Homelessness is a growing issue everywhere. It is estimated that there are 150 million homeless people worldwide, according to Standford.edu. There are people in every corner of the world who are pleading for help. Although this problem has always been a matter of grave concern, it is even more crucial to provide aid when the days are getting colder.
The temperature on an average day in December in Indiana ranges from a high of 40 degrees and a low of 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Even when temperatures are freezing, many people have nowhere to go. They are subject to cold conditions and have nothing to provide relief.
According to the World Population Review, there are over half a million people in the U.S. facing homelessness. The primary causes of homelessness are a lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, low wages, domestic violence, lack of mental health and addiction treatments, and affordable healthcare.
The Human Rights Career website goes in-depth into the systemic issues contributing to homelessness, and times when society fails to identify and support individuals at risk of becoming unhoused. The most common failures occur in areas like correctional, healthcare, and child welfare services.
Homelessness and the criminal justice system are deeply intertwined. People with a history of convictions are more likely to experience insecure living conditions. A jail or prison stay may lead to the loss of a person’s job and housing and sever their connections, leaving them with no support after their release.
Many people are forced to flee their homes because they are without support or are being made to leave. Family conflicts contribute to a large portion of people who get kicked out and having nowhere to go. This is especially true for people in the LGBTQ+ community. Coming out can be extremely risky if a person is in an unaccepting home. Families may kick that person out or make the living environment dangerous. The True Colors Fund stated that 1.6 million young LGBTQ+ people end up homeless each year. This also increases homeless for people of a young age.
Domestic violence also attributes to people being forced to leave their homes to protect themselves from a threatening home. To escape this violence people will flee their homes without a plan or anywhere to stay. For the people that do stay, the trauma may lead to mental health issues and substance abuse, which can result in homelessness in the future. Women, men, or children can be stuck living in cars, shelters, or the street.
Another factor that can play heavily into homelessness is the lack of mental health and addiction treatment services. In 2017, the Addiction Center found that 38 percent of all homeless people depend on alcohol and 26 percent depend on substances. Having extreme mental health or addiction issues makes it more difficult to find a permanent home. With that, a lack of stable housing also intensifies those issues.
Since healthcare is so expensive, many people go uninsured or underinsured. This means they will be spending large amounts of money on healthcare while still struggling to pay for necessities like rent, food, and utilities. It also means people will avoid seeking help when they’re injured and neglect routine checkups. One serious accident or injury could push an individual or even an entire family into homelessness.
On a global scale, the most significant root cause of homelessness is poverty. Set wages, unemployment, and high housing and healthcare costs all play a role in poverty. To effectively address homelessness, governments also need to address poverty.
The American Progress Association has come up with detailed ways to help reverse the damage of poverty. Congress needs to support sustained, but bold public investments that support those in or at the edge of poverty. Safety net programs are in place to catch people when they fall. However, the pandemic exposed how America's safety net is not structured very well.
Before the pandemic, state unemployment insurance (UI) did not cover monthly expenses anywhere in the country and excluded millions of others due to their work classification, previous earnings, length of employment, or immigration status.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided a temporary $600 weekly boost to UI, lifting millions out of poverty. After that expired, the American Rescue Plan continued a $300 weekly supplement to UI. Unfortunately, this supplement also expired as did other temporary federal UI expansions. This cut benefits 4.7 million people and severely affects their ability to recover from the pandemic.
Creating good-paying jobs that meet family needs, raising the minimum wage, investing in affordable but high-quality child care and education, along with so much more could ensure economic stability, increase worker power, and rebalance the labor market. Union representation is a key protection against exploitation and discrimination against workers. Unions help their members to negotiate with employers for decent wages and benefits to ensure that working people have a voice in U.S. democracy by promoting progressive priorities.
All these things and so much more can be done to decrease the number of people with nowhere to go. On almost every corner, there is a person who is struggling, whether it’s noticeable or not. There are so many reasons why a homeless person isn’t able to “just get a job.” People are excluded from the workforce when a potential employer finds their address or lacks one. Above all, there is a widely prevalent belief in our society that all homeless people have a substance addiction, criminal background, and a lack of desire to make a living, which isn’t always the case.
Each person is dealing with something different. Nobody knows what each other is going through and that’s why it’s important to keep an open mind and an open heart. Some people have no family to turn to and feel they are alone, but they don’t have to be. Doing research and finding ways to possibly help with this expanding crisis is a way we can all contribute. It can be as simple as donating clothes or food, volunteering time, researching local candidates, promoting shelters, fundraising, and so many other things. Together, we can turn poverty into prosperity.