Cause of Homelessness :: Papers Exploratory Poor Poverty Welfare Essays

Cause of Homelessness Two trends be largely responsible for the rise in homelessness over the past 15-20 years a growing shortage of affordable rental housing and a simultaneous increase in poverty. Below is an overview of up-to-the-minute poverty and housing statistics, as well as additional factors contributing to homelessness. A list of resources for further study is also provided. POVERTY Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, child care, health care, and education. Difficult choices must be made when limited resources espouse only some of these necessities. Often it is housing, which absorbs a high proportion of income, that must be dropped. Being unworthy means being an illness, an accident, or a payroll check away from living on the streets. In 1997, 13.3% of the U.S. population, or 35.6 million people, lived in poverty (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998a). Whi le the number of poor people remains has non changed much in recent years, the number of people living in extreme poverty has increased. In 1997, 14.6 million people -- 41% of all poor persons -- had incomes of less than half the poverty level. This represents an increase of over 500,000 from 1995. Forty percent of persons living in poverty are children in fact, the 1997 poverty rate of 19.9% for children is some twice as high as the poverty rate for any other age group. Two factors help account for increasing poverty dilapidate employment opportunities for large segments of the workforce, and the declining value and availability of public assistance. Eroding Work Opportunities Media reports of a growing economy and low unemployment mask a number of eventful reasons why homelessness persists, and, in some areas of the country, is worsening. These reasons include stagnant or falling incomes and less secure jobs which offer fewer b enefits.