What Causes Homelessness - Part 2

Why do people experience homelessness? There is no quick and easy answer. It is easy and common to blame a stagnant or failing economy. The fallacy with that argument is that, when the economy turns around, homelessness should decrease. Most studies have shown that there has been no significant decrease in the number of those who experience homelessness in the last decade. If anything, the number is rising with little regard to the health or decline in the national economy. This rise in the homeless population is cause for concern.

Establishing a number of those who experience homelessness is difficult to do. A 2007 report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness states the “Every year, 600,000 families with 1.3 million children experience homelessness in the United States, making up about 50 percent of the homeless population over the course of the year.” (http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/fact-sheet-on-homeless-families). The National Center on Family Homelessness places that number now at 2.5 million children. “This “historic high represents one in every 30 children in the United States” (http://www.air.org/center/national-center-family-homelessness).

Every year in January, agencies involved in addressing homelessness conduct a “point-in-time” count to gauge the national situation on a given night. This past January,

·         There were 564,708 people experiencing homelessness in the United States.

·         Sixty-nine percent of those who were homeless were in sheltered locations and 31 percent were found in unsheltered locations (streets, abandoned buildings, cars, etc.).

·         Nearly one-quarter (23 percent or 127,787) of all homeless people were children, under the age of 18. 

·         Ten percent (or 52,973) were between the ages of 18 and 24, and 66 percent (or 383,948) were 25 years or older. (https://projecthome.org/about/facts-homelessness)

So the question remains, why? Unless we understand the causes of homelessness we will be ineffective in our attempts to address the issue. We will continue this topic with a look at some of the issues that contribute to homelessness.