Causes Of Homelessness In America

Homelessness is an issue in American society today that affects anywhere from 800,000 to 3.5 million people. There are a substantial amount of people that are without shelter, food, or employment, and there are numerous other people affected by poverty and homelessness. People living in nearly every city in the United States are affected by homelessness due to the large amounts of homeless individuals living on the streets and begging for money, food, and other necessities. The issue of homelessness has been a constant problem since the conquering of the New World, and soup kitchens and homeless shelters have not been able to fully end homelessness. Especially today, with a lack of affordable housing and high unemployment rates, homelessness is prevalent.

Homelessness is a social problem that is prevalent around the world. Homelessness has existed for much of "civilized" human history. In the last two centuries, homelessness and changed and expanded. Sociologists who study and research homelessness have argued over its formal definition for decades, though for some, the definition of homelessness seems self explanatory and obvious. The paper will examine homelessness, particularly as a sociological issue, or a social issue seen from a sociological perspective. The paper will additionally reference sociological theory as a means of explanation for homelessness, such its causes, the demographics/populations, and other prominent known characteristics of homeless people. There are individuals and groups who choose to be, from a normative societal perspective, homeless, but for a great deal of the homeless population, it can be a treacherous and tragic lifestyle that is a result of a distinct set of social, societal, and individual factors.

In the United States the homeless population continues to grow rapidly. Homelessness has been a public health issue for many decades. Often times these individuals feel as though society has turned a blind eye to them. This at risk population is seen by society as lazy or chose to live a life on the streets, but if one would examine this population closely would see that there is more to this at risk population than what society has labeled them as. The forces, which affect homelessness, are multifaceted. Social forces such as family breakdown, addictions, and mental illnesses are in combined with structural forces such as lack of low-cost housing, insufficient health services, and poor economic conditions. Many would

Homelessness is defined as the situation of an individual or family without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means, and ability of acquiring it. It is the result of systemic or societal barriers, a lack of affordable and appropriate housing, the individual/household’s financial, mental, cognitive, behavioral or physical challenges, and/or racism and discrimination. Most people do not choose to be homeless, and the experience is generally negative, unpleasant, stressful and distressing6. Homelessness is a problem that affects every Canadian town or city, and is one that is dealt with using a variety of different methods.

A place of safety and security is something that many of us take for granted, until we are confronted in our own neighborhood by someone holding up a sign pleading for help. Homelessness is a problem that has been afflicting hundreds of thousands of people around the world for ages. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on a single night in 2016, 549,928 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States. That means that there were at least 500,000 individuals suffering without a place to lay their heads at night. In this report I will be discussing the causes of homelessness, who is affected, how it affects people, and homeless mistreatment.

Homelessness is a critical issue that requires everyone’s attention. Hundreds of thousands of homeless people live on the streets as their shelter. Historically, homelessness has always been a problem in society. Homeless people were known as “the wondering poor”, “sturdy beggars”, and as “vagrants,” but it was not until the late 18th century that homelessness because noticeable to society. Homeless person is anyone who lacks adequate shelter, resources, and community ties. People who are homeless can be categorized as chronic deinstitutionalized or temporary

Homelessness is a growing epidemic across the country. Over 2 million people are homeless in America, and that number is increasing. 40% are families with kids, 30% are drug and/or alcohol addicts, 23% are mentally ill and 10% are veterans. This terrible misfortune has led to many unsuspecting people leading impoverished lifestyles, and facing the horrific and heart-wrenching tragedy of abandonment. The purpose of this essay is to not only persuade the readers to get involved in ending homelessness on local and national efforts, but to embrace new and creative ways of helping to end this rapidly growing problem, by taking action to end this catastrophic situation. Also, I will demonstrate the causes and effects of the homeless resorting

Homelessness is a major problem in the United States of America. Homelessness is a state in which people do not have a place to stay in for a period of time and are always spending their time on the streets. From a teenage eluding a bad environment, to an elderly citizen on a fine tuned income that is not enough to cover a rent or the tax increase, to a child whose parents lost their job out of nowhere and became unemployed are what leads to homelessness (“Homelessness Resource Center” 1).

Homelessness is an unfortunate epidemic that has plagued communities across the United States for decades. Although a homeless population has existed in our society throughout history, this social issue came to a head only a few decades ago in the early 1980’s. What defines homelessness varies from source to source, however a concise definition, stated by the McKinney-Vento Act, specifies that a homeless individual is typically one that lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night time residence (McKinney-Vento Act, 2001). Approximately 3.5 million people experience homelessness at some point each year in the United States. The homeless population is presently declining across the country. The National Alliance to End Homelessness reported a seventeen percent decrease in the homeless population between the years 2005 and 2012. However this trend is really only a mirage, that is certain to end and revert itself in the opposite direction. The increasing population, scarce resources and the surging number of individuals living at or below the poverty line indicate that the number of people without adequate shelter will eventually increase.

The issue of homelessness is not one that is easily defined or characterized. In fact, many organizations and legislative actions spend a significant portion of their time and resources in attempting to define homelessness. For, only once the issue is defined can it be effectively addressed. There are also, perhaps, different types of homelessness whose resolution may need to be addressed with differing methods from one another.

There are many common misconceptions about homelessness. Ideally, it is only problematic in poor third world countries; this is false. Homelessness is a giant problem in every corner of the world. Homelessness tends to be associated with people who sleep in the streets, parks, subways, and sidewalks. Although homelessness happened a long time ago it is still present today. There are many causes for one to be homeless, such as; economy crisis, having a mental illness, drug/alcohol addiction, no job, limit housing, low income. Homeless people face an intense struggle just to stay alive. Some laws that the government has to establish makes it illegal for them to survive and some make it’s so they can have an education. Some communities

The major factors contributing to the homeless in America are; mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence and the lack of affordable housing.

To begin with, individual conditions are major causes of homelessness, and they are quite numerous. For instance, the past of the individuals could be packed with shocking events. Some people have really hard time getting over them, and they always cause them many psychological or physical problems that may hinder their development in life. Shocking events may include loss of job or money. Research (as cited in Gowan, 2010) shows that 22.61% of homeless people are not working seriously to earn enough money. In addition, personal crises, whether social or economic have a huge impact on the individual’s present situation. If someone faces bankruptcy they have a higher chance of facing homelessness in the future. Also, mental illness

The primary cause of homelessness is poverty, however, they are other causes such as addictions, mental and physical health. According to Lindsay Phillips (2015) quantitative responses on perceived

In addition to that, according to Journal of Housing and Community development another important element which is causing homelessness in the Unites States is lack of affordable housing, the majority of those who are homeless are low income families and studies have shown that low income families spent forty five percent of their income on housing so basically this means that they almost spend have of their income on housing and the reaming half on other daily life expenses. This is an important fact that housing expenses is a huge burden on the shoulders of low income families and most them are living in rental apartments or houses with the fear that if they lose their jobs or if they are unable to pay the rent or mortgage on time soon they might lose their properties or the rental apartment or rental house and they might be homeless with a life with no hope for the future and terrible challenges to deal with. This elements supports the idea that affordable housing has direct effect on the causes of homelessness in the United States and it is the responsibility of the government to look into this issue in depth and present long terms solution for this challenge, and based on the earning of the low income families the government should provide them affordable housing, so that people should be able to continue to their live without any concerns and they should be able to pay attention to education and wellbeing of their offspring to present effective and positive