homelessness+overview

Homelessness Overview From: "Homelessness." Teen Health and Wellness. Rosen, 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.

When you say the word “homelessness,” most people immediately think of people living on the street or sleeping in city parks. But the reality of homelessness is far more complex, especially in the wake of a struggling economy. A person is considered homeless if he or she lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. People are also considered homeless if they regularly spend nights in homeless shelters and other such facilities. Therefore, while people who sleep in parks fit the definition of homelessness, so do families that rely on relatives for temporary shelter, or individuals who sleep temporarily in shelters or even vehicles. A homeless person could be a classmate whose family finds shelter in motels, or the woman sitting next to you on the bus who stays with friends after having lost her house.

Because of this, determining the exact number of homeless people in the United States is difficult. For most of those who don’t have a permanent home, the condition is temporary. But according to a study by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, approximately 3.5 million people—1.35 million of them children—are likely to experience homelessness in a given year. Those numbers surfaced around the beginning of the nation’s economic crisis in 2007. This crisis increased the number of people who don’t have a permanent residence. Many people found themselves unemployed and unable to pay mortgages or rent, and they were forced out onto the streets or into the homes of friends or family.

**What Causes Homelessness?**
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says reaching a national unemployment rate of 9 percent or higher could cause the number of poor Americans to rise by 7.5, to 10.3 million. And the number of deeply poor people—those with incomes below half of the poverty line—could rise by an estimated 4.5, to 6.3 million. That would, in turn, result in 900,000 to 1.1 million families with children falling into deep poverty. Being in that financial state puts people at risk of housing instability and homelessness. A growing housing market crisis only makes the problem worse. Foreclosure, which is a lender’s legal termination of a homeowner’s loan (usually after the homeowner can no longer make payments), has forced many people to give up their homes. Because of this, many families must turn to rental properties for housing. This drives up rents and reduces availability, making rental housing less affordable. Since poor people generally rent, many of them find themselves unable to find affordable rental housing as well.

The troubled economy is just one of the causes of homelessness. People find themselves without a permanent residence for a number of reasons, including:
 * The troubled economy is just one of the causes of homelessness. ||
 * Poverty. One of the top causes of homelessness is poverty. Two factors contribute to growing poverty levels in the United States: decreasing employment opportunities, and the lower quality and availability of public assistance. And with the recession putting more and more people out of work, public assistance systems are stretched even more thinly than before. This leaves too many people needing help—and not enough help to cover their needs.
 * Lack of affordable housing. A growing population of poor people, coupled with a decrease in the availability of affordable housing, means that many more people will find themselves homeless . The more people who lose their homes and are forced to move into rental housing, the less rental housing there is for even poorer people. In addition, the limited scale of housing assistance programs means that fewer impoverished people can receive help paying their living expenses.
 * Domestic violence. Battered women who live in poverty must often choose between staying in an abusive relationship or becoming homeless . According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, approximately half of all women and children experiencing homelessness are fleeing domestic violence. Many times, battered women don’t have jobs or don’t make enough at their jobs to support themselves and their children. In these situations, they often cannot rely on any financial support from their spouse or significant other, as that person is usually the one they are fleeing.
 * Mental illness. Since many impoverished mentally ill people cannot afford the proper treatment or supportive housing they need, they find themselves on the streets. According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, approximately 16 percent of the single adult homeless population suffers from some form of severe and persistent mental illness.
 * Addiction. Drug and alcohol abuse, especially among those already suffering from poverty, often leads to homelessness. Many of those who are addicted to drugs and alcohol find it hard to stay employed. They fall so deeply into their addiction that they can no longer afford to pay for housing or otherwise support themselves. They cannot afford the counseling or support that is needed to combat addiction. The connection between addiction and homelessness is complex, though, as not all addicts end up homeless . In this scenario, the presence of poverty definitely increases the likelihood of an addict becoming homeless.

**Who Are the Homeless ?**
With an increase in the homeless population, people who would have never imagined being homeless find themselves in that exact situation. The growing shortage of affordable housing and the huge increase in poverty and joblessness mean that families and children end up living without a home. This phenomenon—made worse by the recession and the housing crisis—has changed the makeup of the homeless population in the United States. There are several groups that seem hardest hit by homelessness. One of the major, and least recognized, groups is children. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, children under the age of eighteen account for more than a third of the homeless population. Nearly half of these children are under the age of five. According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, around a quarter of the homeless population are between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four, and less than 10 percent are fifty-five to thirty-four. While it may seem unbelievable, many homeless people are children and teens. As far as gender goes, the single homeless population is most likely to be male. But single men only make up some of that population, as families account for a large portion of the homeless population in the United States. In many of the major urban areas, families and single mothers with children make up around a third of the homeless population. In rural areas, those numbers are thought to be even higher. When it comes to ethnicity, African Americans make up a majority of the homeless population. According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, African Americans account for nearly half of the homeless populations of major U.S. cities. Caucasians come in a close second, representing more than a third of the population. Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asians follow behind as much smaller percentages. Other groups that tend to be largely represented among homeless populations are victims of domestic violence, veterans, persons with mental illness, and those suffering from drug or alcohol addiction. Homeless people are often just like everyone else. They don’t always fall into an easily recognizable stereotype or profile. They are simply people who, for one reason or another, find themselves without a place to call home.

Reviewed by: [|Susan Burns Chong, LMSW] Updated: May 2011