How Poverty Affects Housing

The United States is the richest nation, yet millions of Americans live below the poverty line and millions more struggle every month. The children in society today living in poverty is increasing daily. The majority of these children are from single-parent homes where sometimes parents are not working or have become disabled and therefore cannot work. Children who are raised in foster care and leave as adults do not have strong relationship ties most of the time and are at an increased risk for experiencing poverty, early parenthood and homelessness (American School Board Journal, 2007). The reason for most of the poverty in the United States is due to low family incomes.

Homelessness has been a prevalent and contentious topic since its public emergence in the 1980’s. In fact, according to the most recent estimates, on any given night in the United States, there are roughly 645,000 people residing in homeless shelters or unsheltered street locations (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2011). And based on a local study done by the Mental Health Unit at the Houston Police Department in 2011, Houston has the largest homeless population in Texas and the eighth largest in the United States. While many great efforts have been put forth to aid the homeless population in Houston, “the public health epidemiology task of quantifying and tracking child and family homelessness over time has been complicated…by increasing rates of…shortages [in] affordable housing” (Grant et al., 2013), and restrictions on temporary encampments (Loftus-Ferren, 2013). In order to successfully reduce, prevent and combat homelessness, more policies must be put in place to create sustainable, affordable housing for homeless families and to modify current laws that harm homeless individuals.

People often think that homelessness only affects men and women but in reality homelessness also affects families “It is estimated that 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness every year. Among this group, 17 percent are single women and 30 percent are families with children” (Finfgeld-Connet, 2010, p.1). It is said that women along with their children are among the fastest growing homeless population and not only does it impact women but it also impacts their children significantly.

Given evidence of the effect of race on housing issues, even as it relates to home ownership, an exploration of the empirical evidence in how it manifests within rental markets is necessary. One of the leading researchers in the contemporary study of eviction is Matthew Desmond. In “Eviction and the Reproduction of Urban Poverty (2012), he combines statistical and ethnographic analyses to investigate the ramifications of eviction on the lives of the urban poor. The primary independent variable in this study was gender, while the dependent was eviction rates as a percentage. Half of his quantitative analysis involved extracting legal records or court-ordered evictions that took place in Milwaukee County between 2003 to 2007 (n=29,960) (“Eviction and the Reproduction” 91). Using addresses, eviction records were merged with population estimates of Milwaukee’s 880 block groups (“neighborhoods”), and yearly eviction rates for each block group were calculated by gender and pooled to calculate annual averages (Eviction and Reproduction 94). Then risk ratios and differences were determined using 3 different samples: all groups with at least 1 male and female evictee, high poverty block groups where more than 40% of the population lived at or below 150% of the poverty line, and hyper-segregated neighborhoods where at least 85% of residents were same race/ethnicity (Eviction and Reproduction 94). While these measures provided reliable and exact measures of incidence and location,

“The National Center on Family Homelessness currently estimates that as many as fifty U. S. children (1.5 million) are homeless or “precariously housed” in temporary quarters such as motels and shelters” (Cohen, 2009). Today’s economic crisis is not helping this growing number of families that are being relocated as home foreclosures and loss of jobs add to the overwhelming number of homeless

One of the root determinants of health and homelessness is poor childhood development. Even before children are born, social determinants of health can have a major impact on them through the mothers who are carrying the children (Davidson, 2015). The health and socioeconomic status of a mother can strongly influence

Hobo, beggar, and bum are just a few terms used in society today to describe the homeless community. Today, more and more individuals and families are becoming homeless and majority of them never imagined being homeless. This tragic event could happen to anyone. There is not a guide created to overcome the barriers of homelessness or a "how to manual" when an individual or family is faced with homelessness. "Homelessness occurs when people or households are unable to acquire and/or maintain housing" (End Homelessness, 2016).

Homelessness affects the whole family, as do other societal issues. If a parent has a low income job, then they cannot afford to live in the wealthier, or even middle class, areas. They are forced to live in lower class, struggling areas, which then causes their children to attend struggling schools. These schools are unable to provide the children with the proper level of education, often leading the children to drop out or, if they do graduate, not to attend college. This leaves the children in the same situation as their parents, continuing the vicious cycle. The method of solving homelessness discussed in Sources B and E can benefit the whole family. By giving them a safe, secure place to live that will not be taken away from them, giving the working-age members of the family jobs, and providing them with resources allows them to find their way out of the situation. Source G describes the decrepit areas in which the children and their families live and how these homes contribute to the problem. When describing East St. Louis, Kozol says, “Only three of the 13 buildings on Missouri Avenue, one of the city’s major thoroughfares, are occupied. A 13-story office building, tallest in the city, has been boarded up. Outside, on the sidewalk, a pile of garbage fills a ten-foot crater” (Source G, 7). Areas such as East St. Louis often do not have any career or job

One in every 50 American children experiences homelessness, according to a new report that says most states have inadequate plans to address the worsening and often-overlooked problem (“1 and 50 children experience homelessness” 1). The problem of homelessness

As of today, government-funded programs creates a home for children who are homeless, but the placement often tears apart families separating siblings. With the limited number of placements, children, especially in younger ones, would create a healthier environment for children to grow up in.

Throughout numerous areas around the globe, the reality of children living on the street has become a significant issue. This problem is mainly due to the family’s inability to provide adequate care and resources for their child, “Children end up on the streets for a number of reasons, many of which are rooted in family instability and poverty,” (The Children of the Street). Instead of worrying about what games to play or who to play with, these adolescents have to worry about what they will eat for the day or where they will sleep for the night. Children who have ended up on the streets are forced to fend for

course between a twenty-five year span of the 1980’s to 2013. They reviewed journal articles, government reports, and news stories to find any changes in conditions or the amount of family and childhood homelessness. The review concluded family and childhood homelessness still exists but at a larger scale than in the earlier years and a decrease in the attention given to childhood and family homelessness. They also reported some of the factors leading to family and childhood homelessness were the decline in economic conditions, increase of evictions, economic inequality, and domestic violence. The review also noted a negative impact on a child’s health and well-being and a child’s behavioral health. Rent subsidies and shelter based programs have shown evidence to aid in preventing childhood and family homelessness. They made suggestions to increase nutritional programs as well as health and mental health services. This review supports my claim that homelessness affects children in many ways and the number of homeless children in America is growing.

In today’s society children becoming homeless and having to fend for themselves is wide-spread but homelessness in families also tends to be common (Jewel 2). This issue affects the human population in a very grave way which leaves one out of every fifty children experiencing this immense epidemic (Crary 1). The current recession, has caused sixteen percent of homeless children to be present in our country today and with the economy worsening this statistic will increase (Kingsbury 1).

Socio-economic factors are widely acknowledged as important determinants of poverty. If an individual experiences adverse living conditions in childhood, majority of them will have inadequate income and result in low socio-economic status as adults (Carroll et al, 2011). Children born in poor households have difficulty in accessing the basic needs (e.g. food, clothing, and good living environment) and this can affect their learning ability at school, unable to focus. In other words, they have a higher chance of dropping out of school or lower education attainment, unable to provide appropriate qualifications when they move onto adulthood, seeking for job opportunities. These children are finding day-to-day life tough, they are living in cold, damp houses, do not have warm or rain-proof clothing, their shoes are worn, and many days they go hungry (Children's Commissioner, 2012). Often this has taken place over a long period of time, impacting on their development, behaviour and physical health furthermore limiting their potential as they grow into adults.

Poverty is a major issue in America, and those affected appear to be predominantly children. Jarjoura, Triplett, and Brinker (2002) noted that 21% of the children in America are born into families that are living in poverty, which is higher than in many other countries. Some important characteristics of impoverished neighborhoods are high levels of delinquent and criminal behaviors, lack of parental supervision, low levels of