What Is The Cause Of Homelessness?

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.

While there are many reasons why the homeless population continues to increase social and economic factors have contributed to this epidemic. The global financial crisis has contributed to the prevalence of homelessness in the United States. The social factors that contribute to homelessness include living in poverty and not enough affordable housing.

Often it is housing, that absorbs high proportion of income that can cause Americans to become homeless. Twelve million homeowners and renters pay more that fifty percent of their annual earnings for housing. This percentage is astonishing high for the county who has the best weapon system in the world. Although, several programs were developed such as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to stabilized homelessness, America should not have a large amount of homeless people, we should take care of our own people. According to National Coalition for the Homeless (“In a survey of 24 cities, people remain homeless an average of seven months, and 87% of cities reported that the length of time people are homeless has increased in recent years (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005)”). Seeing children and families living in shelters should not be permitted, in this great nation. Instead of interfering with other countries well being, America should focus on its own citizens. Investing in increasing developing affordable programs would prevent people from becoming homeless, and be in

I find it is most appropriate to begin with the causes of homelessness in America. The circumstances are unique and it is difficult to pinpoint one main cause. As stated in the most recent annual survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, major cities across the country report that the top four causes of homelessness among families were: lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, and low wages. The same report found that the top causes of homelessness among solitary individuals were lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, mental illness accompanied by the lack of needed services, and substance abuse. For women in particular, though, domestic violence is the primary reason for experiencing homelessness.

Secondly, what are the main causes of homelessness? There is no one main cause to this crisis there is actually a lot. Homelessness is

Many causes become the answers to homeless people. The most easy understanding of homelessness is they don not have houses. Homeless people live in the streets because they do not have a house, but every homeless person does not have a house since he was born is impossible. First, shortage of substance use is the major part for

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that housing is a fundamental component to a decent standard of living, yet few city governments--even in the most developed economies--have proven themselves capable of ensuring such a basic right to their constituents (United Nations, General Assembly). Ranked 49th among the 50 U.S. states for its number of housing units per capita, California has notoriously struggled with chronic shortages in its urban housing market. With 118,142 homeless people recorded in 2016, California holds almost 22% of the nation’s homeless population (Fact Sheet: Homelessness in California 1).

Homelessness has affected many people; more people are becoming homeless every year. Over half a million people are homeless.138,000 people are children under 18. There are many reasons why people become homeless. Some of the reasons are divorce, poverty, mental illness, domestic violence, drug addiction, and sexuality.

The topic of homelessness is not widely talked about in our communities due to, lack of knowledge, considered to be a lost cause, ignorance or unwilling to get involved and help. Yet, everyday we are faced with some form of homelessness. When you exit the freeway, drive through your neighborhoods or outside a place of business. In the state of California, the effects on homelessness continues to be a ongoing challenge for us. So, what are some of the causes for one to be homeless?

Being homeless can be the least or one of the least desirable circumstances one could imagine, causing great difficulties to one more than one could imagine. People usually become homeless as results from a combined of different effects from of extreme poverty, the lack, and limited affordable housing and the decline of government supports, lack of employment opportunities, poor healthcare, and limited health services for mental illness, domestic violence, foreclosures, and evictions (Wikipedia, 2009, p. 6). These are just some of the major reasons that cause people to become homeless. But not all homeless are without jobs. There is a small percent of them do work, but the minimum wage is simply not enough to cover their rent since they are already struggling living paycheck to paycheck or the work is not steady. Forcing more and more not only single people but also entire families.

As many as 3.5 million Americans are considered homeless each year. Often, people believe that homelessness is a complication only caused by the poor choices of a single person when they are typically the result of multiple uncontrollable factors. For some, the line between being homeless and not can be very thin, with several obstacles preventing stability. These individuals and families commonly come from more deprived areas. Those who are homeless can be very different to each other in how and why they came to be in their situation, but they all have in common their desire to find a way back to a normal and healthy lifestyle. Homelessness is an issue created by poor physical and mental health, a lack of money, and relationship complications.

Homelessness is increasing more every year. In fact, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, over 640,000 people experience homelessness every

Poverty is considered the most common and pervasive cause of homelessness because everything else is linked to it. Had someone not been poor, loss of his job wouldn't land him on the streets; similarly lack of public assistance is only a problem if you need it. In other words, when a person loses his job, or seeks public assonance or looks for affordable housing, he is doing it because his income is unable to help him meet his expenses. For this reason, he can be categorized as poor. Thus many poor people are forced to end up on the streets. Unfortunately a very significant portion of this population is composed of innocent children who are forced to live on streets because their parents cannot afford a house. "In 2007, 12.5% of the U.S. population, or 37, 300, 00 million people, lived in poverty. The official poverty rate in 2007 was not statistically different than 2006 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2007). Children are overrepresented, composing 35.7% of people in poverty while only being 24.8% of the total

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