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What causes people to be homeless
Links between homelessness and mental illness
What causes people to be homeless
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Homelessness refers to a situation whereby, an individual or family does not have access to a safe shelter or a permanent place of residence. As a result, the affected individual ends up living in places that are not meant for human inhabitation. Homelessness causes people to live under some devastating conditions and impact to other undesirable effects. These effects range from drug abuse, health problems and even the development of the individual’s behavior (Pankratz). Besides that, the effects of homelessness on the affected individuals also have negative consequences on the society. These effects include economic impacts such as ventures of funding for the homelessness programs such as homeless shelter program among others. These ventures are usually funded by the tax paid by citizens. If there were no people experiencing homeless situations, the funds would have been put to more beneficial projects. Homelessness can be caused as a result of an individual’s own actions, whereas, there are other cases whereby the government is either directly or indirectly responsible for the situation. Therefore, it is necessary to understand why and how people get into homelessness before evaluating the party in which blame …show more content…
Currently in America, prices of goods as well as general expenses have been on an increase whereas the salaries of individuals have always remained constant. This has made housing become expensive for individuals. Therefore, people who don’t have a good or a stable income supply may end up becoming homeless. This case may happen because most people scramble for affordable houses, leaving the expensive ones. In the process, a person may find himself unable to secure a house he can afford and therefore he may end up becoming homeless. Other personal reasons for unemployment people who have been released from prison and being born in a family of homelessness among
Homelessness has been a long standing problem in the United States dating back to the American Civil War and significantly increased during the Great Depression. After the Great Depression, even when the economy regained strength, homelessness continued to be a widespread problem (NLCHP, 2007). Due to the deindustrialization movement in 1950’s, many people lost their jobs. Factory jobs offered well-paid wages and needed little to no skill base. Therefore, during the deindustrialization movement, people were left with no source of income and no skills to find another job. As a result for the United States Government not establishing anything to a...
The root cause of homelessness is largely be explained by economics: people who become homeless have insufficient financial resources to obtain or maintain housing. 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 would jeopardize housing stability and lead to an increased risk of homelessness.
Encouragement from one 's community plays a significant role in the ability to overcome homelessness; without such motivation from peers, a lack of trust and confidence can occur, lowering their self-esteem and want to get out of homelessness. Through the article, Homelessness: Perception of Causes and Solutions, written by Lindsay Phillips, the study shows the way in which those within a community perceive the homeless, and their inability, or the inability they believe they possess, to benefit the community as a whole, this Phillips calling a stigma. Addressing the idea of social biases. Where those not conformed to society, seem to pose a threat to the rest, believing that without a roof over your head you 're inadequately qualified to hold a job.
It is estimated that, “each year, more than 3 million people experience homelessness, including 1.3 million children” (NLCHP). Clearly poverty and Homelessness come hand in hand, and the economy downfall has only contributed to this growing crisis. “Homelessness stems from a lack of affordable housing. Increasing rents, destruction of traditional low-income housing, and cuts in federal housing programs threaten affordable housing with extinction” (NLCHP). Most people in poverty have a housing affordability crisis, which means that they pay more than half of their income for rent, so therefore they have to buffer to deal with unforeseen expenses. This indicates a constantly struggle financially therefore anything such as an accident, sick child, or loss of employment could tip you over the edge. Some including factors that contrib...
Homelessness is a problem that happens in many different countries around the world. Definitions of homelessness are defined in different meanings by different people. However, the Stewart B. McKinney Act defines a homeless person as “ one who lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel, or any public or private place not designed as sleeping accommodations for human beings” (McNamara 1025). It is impossible to find out exactly the number of homeless; however, the researchers can do a study to estimate that number. Based on different statistics from different researchers, the homeless population in America has been increasing as “an alarming rate” (Markos and Lima). Therefore, even though America is one of the most powerful countries in the world, homelessness, which has many common causes, has always been a big problem in society.
“3.5 million people will experience homelessness in a given year,”(Los Angeles Homeless Services). This shocking number is one of the sad truths in today’s society. Homelessness is caused by a wide range of things including financial issues. The life of a homeless person is hard and comes with set-backs and the constant need to overcome them. Homeless people go through many challenges in surviving without a home. They can suffer from health issues, hunger, and poor emotional well-being.
In the word homeless there are two root words, home and less. Home is what most people would define as the place where they live, or grew up. Less, simply means not as much as. When you combine the two together homeless equals someone who grew up in a home that was held to less standards than what they would normally be held up to. For example, someone who is homeless could live in a box, it sounds terrible but unfortunately it is a part of our reality. Not everyone can afford to live in a house, pay mortgage, and all the other expenses that come with the responsibility of owning a house, or home. Today homelessness still has an affect on many people.
Furthermore, as dominant discourse states that homelessness is due to individual failure much of the middle class and working poor criminalize individuals who are living on the streets. Therefore, it is crucial to recognize that in most cases homelessness is not the fault of the individual and directly related to the structural issues in society which it can then target any individual who may be in an economic
?Over the past year, over two million men, women, and children were homeless? in America. (NLCHP) Homeless people face an intense struggle just to stay alive despite the fact that society turns its head from the problem. The government makes laws that discriminate against homeless people, which make it, illegal for them to survive. The mistreatment of homeless people is an issue that is often ignored in our community. When you see a homeless person on the streets how do you react? Do you turn your head and ignore them? Do you become angry that they are living on the streets? Do you feel frightened and avoid the situation all together? Or do you see these people as human beings and treat them in that way? Homeless people are ?subjected to alienation and discrimination by mainstream society?. (NLCHP) Most alienation and discrimination comes from the lack of education about homeless people. There are numerous untrue myths about homeless people. Many people believe that homeless people ?commit more violent crimes than housed people.? (NLCHP) The reality is that homeless people actually commit less violent crimes than people with homes do. Dr. Pamela Fischer, of John Hopkins University, studied arrest records in Baltimore and discovered that even though homeless people were more likely to commit non-violent and non-destructive crimes, they were less likely to commit violent crimes against people. (NLCHP) The crimes that these people are committing are necessary to keep them alive. These crimes include sleeping, eating, and panhandling. Making it illegal to perform necessary daily activities in public when homeless people have no where else to go makes it impossible for homeless people to avoid violating the law. (NLCHP) Another myth about homeless people is that they do not work and that they get their money from public assistance programs. A study done in Chicago discovered that ?39% of homeless people interviewed had worked for some time during the previous month?. (NLCHP) Many of the people who do not work are actively trying to find jobs, but are discriminated against by the work force. In an interview done at the River Street Homeless Shelter I found many people who have experienced this discrimination. ?People can?t get a job without an address. When they use the shelter?s address they get turned down.? (Mike) Speaking...
Homelessness can happen to anyone unexpectedly. Many poor people are at the risk of homelessness. The cost of living and trying to find affordable housing can be very difficult. Many who are homeless are in poverty, have a mental illness, or addictions. Homelessness happens from personal, as well as structural factors. Many aren’t able to make enough for rent, as well as, utilities, food, and other expenses each month. More than 6 million Americans pay more than half of their income towards rent (Reamer, 1989). The trend is once someone becomes homeless, it is likely they will be homeless repeatedly. To end homelessness, affordable housing will have to be created because it is peoples largest single expenditure (Anderson, 2013).
This paper will explain approaches to resolve the social issue of homelessness in the state of Delaware. It will also explain a few reasons why homelessness should be addressed the correct way to potentially end it. I will describe the correlations of homelessness and health, the crimes involving and against the homeless, and lastly the families subjected to homelessness. A few solutions will be recommended in this paper also to optimistically achieve the goal of assisting the homeless and improving the assistance already given.
The economic component of the homelessness situation can be broken down into two interrelated parts: housing affordability and a low income rate. The economic recession that followed the financial crisis of 2007 left many individuals unemployed during a time that saw a spike in the price of housing. So not only did the cost of living increase, the rate of income also decreased accordingly. Unsurprisingly, during these same years homelessness rose from 24.2 percent in 2007 to 29.4 percent in 2009 (citation).
Homelessness is descriptive condition of someone without a permanent or regular dwelling. Homeless people most often are not in a position to acquire as well as maintain a safe, regular, and adequate housing. Being that one of the most fundamental human needs is shelter, it is important and health for every human to at least acquire one. Unfortunately, it is becoming rather a difficulty to own a home in the current century given the economic recessions frequently occurring in almost globally. Although the legal definitions for homelessness may vary from country to country, the central idea includes people whose primary nighttime residence could be a homeless shelter, a domestic violence shelter, cardboard boxes or ad hoc housing circumstances. They could also be people who take shelter at night in a private or public place that is not primarily designed or suitable for use as a regular sleeping housing for humans.
Other leading causes to homelessness are financial crisis such as losing a job, medical debt, and out of control credit card debt just to name a few. The collapse of the housing market in 2008 started an economic crisis that lasted until June of 2009 –also known as the Great Recession– was the single most contributing factor to millions of people losing jobs. According to The State of Working America.org, the “U.S. labor market lost 8.4 million jobs, or 6.1% of all payroll employment.” The effects of the Great Recession can still be felt in the economy as can be seen by the number of people still struggling to find work. Unemployment rates across the nation have seen an overall decline in the last few years, but millions of people still struggle to find steady work. The lack of work only leads to more poverty, causing the gap between the wealthy and poor to only widen even
Homelessness is a problem virtually every society suffers from. There are many things that cause people to become homeless, such as unemployment, relationship problems, and being evicted from ones domicile either by a landlord, friend or even a family member. However, with every cause there must be an effect. Some of the effects of one becoming homeless, besides the obvious change of lifestyle, are various health problems which often times may lead to death.