Homelessness Essay

There are many possible causes of homelessness, but this research will focus on the two main reasons, insufficient economic resources and affordable housing. Homelessness is primarily a poverty issue. People who become homeless have insufficient financial resources to obtain or maintain a living and a housing. This includes being unemployed, as well as being underemployed and being dependent on government benefits which does not cover the cost of basic living expenses. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) shows that 75% of households at or below the poverty line are severely housing cost burdened. Unexpected financial crises threatens housing stability and can lead to an increased risk of homelessness.

Poverty remains to be a significant feature of life in the United States and throughout the whole world. In the United States, the Census Bureau statistics revealed that the percentage of Americans below the poverty line in 1959 was 22.4 percent and 11.7 percent by 1973 (drop of 11.7 percent). In 2006, the official poverty rate was 12.3 percent (increase of 1.2 percent). Still the question remains, what is poverty and how do you measure it? Why does the wealthiest country in the world have many who are living in poverty? The book, Poverty in America: a Handbook by John Iceland is a very informative book in regards to these issues. The book covers the topic of the definition of what poverty is and how it is measured. It also provides information on the history of poverty in the United States and how it was viewed then and how it is viewed now, what the characteristics of the poverty population is, the causes of poverty and why poverty rate is still high. In the end he examines po...

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...2011) Current Statistics on the Prevalence and Characteristics of People Experiencing Homelessness in the United States. SAMHSA. Retrieved April 2, 2012, from http://homeless.samhsa.gov/ResourceFiles/hrc_factsheet.pdf

The City of New York Office of the Mayor, April 2014. "The CEO Poverty Measure, 2005 - 2012: An Annual Report from the Office of the Mayor." NYC Office of the Mayor. Web. 20 June 2014.

The Human Rights Project. (2007). Race Realities in New York City. Urban Justice Center. Retrieved May 20, 2012, from www.urbanjustice.org/pdf/

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2010). The 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, (6th report). Retrieved from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development website: https://www.onecpd.info/resources/documents/2010homelessassessmentreport.pdf