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Causes of homelessness individual structural
Causes of homelessness individual structural
The cause of homelessness in america paper
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Every night there is one child that gets tucked in a warm, comfortable bed at home by his mother and father and another child waiting for the church to be unlocked for the night because that is his only choice of shelter for the evening. The “Great Recession” isn’t over for so many of America’s youth, though many would disagree considering our President declared its end in 2009. Out of the millions of children living in the Unites States, 1.6 million are homeless. Who or what do we blame for some many children having to live without a home? Do we blame the recent hurricane for kids being on the street? Do we blame the stock market crashing or the young mother who ended up pregnant before she could graduate high school and was kicked out by her parents? No, we do not blame anyone or anything for the homeless of America; we focus solely on fixing the problem. The problems and experiences that the homeless has to face are sometimes more traumatic than most what housed families have gone through in all of their lives, poor kids just cant do anything about it though.
Considered “The Great Recession,” the time period between December of 2007 and June 2009 was hard for almost every American. Once $8 trillion in housing money was lost, those who once provided for themselves could no longer do so. The U.S. labor market lost 8.4 million jobs (or 6.1% of all payroll employment) in 2008 and 2009. When compared to the recession in 1981, the Economic Policy Institute stated, “Job loss was 3.1%, or only about half as severe.” A year and four months after the recession was supposedly over, the economy was still dealing with 5.4% less jobs than it did before the recession even started.
The “Great Recession” caused over 46 million to ...
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...hildren>.
Strauss, Valerie. "Record Number of Homeless Children Enrolled in Public Schools, New Data Show." The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .
"The Characteristics and Needs of Families Experiencing Homelessness” American Institutes for Research. The National Center on Family Homelessness, Dec. 2011. PDF file. 11 Jan. 2014. .
"The Great Recession." State of Working America. Economic Policy Institute, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .
“Who is Homeless?” National Coalition for the Homeless. National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009. Web. .
"National Coalition for the Homeless - Why Are People Homeless?" National Coalition for the Homeless. National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009. Web. 26 Jan 2011. .
Homelessness is primarily a poverty issue. The persistence of poverty in the United States reflects more than just an aggregation of individual failings. Structural factors, such as the way we understand and define poverty, the inherent features of our economic system that produce income inequality, social inequities and our policy responses to these problems shape current trends. Economic changes have had the strongest association with trends in overall rates, regardless of how poverty is measured. Poverty rate is high amongst minority groups, children and female-headed households (Iceland, 2003). According to professor Iceland’s research, rates of extreme poverty are higher among children and African-Americans and lower for whites, Asians and the elderly. Among families with children, married couples were less likely to be poor (6.9 %) than single parent male (17.5%) and single parent female (35.3%).
Homelessness is one of the biggest issues society (Unites States) faces today. Homelessness is caused by lack of affordable housing, economic situations and decline in federal funding for low income families and the mentally ill. A homeless person is defined as an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family) including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private (shelters) facility that provides temporary living accommodations and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing. This definition of housing is used by the U.S Department of Healt...
Waggoner, John. "Is Today's Economic Crisis Another Great Depression?" USA Today. N.p., 4 Nov. 2008. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
With nearly 3.18 million people in the United States, there are 610.042 individuals who are homeless which calculates to about nearly one in five individuals (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 and HUD/US, 2013). At any time situations can change that can render an individual’s homeless. There are no qualities that exempt individuals from the chances of becoming homeless. However, there are certain predispositions and characteristics that can predict the likelihood of becoming homeless. Homelessness can be contributed to a number of situations such as occupational stress, financial stress, mental health issues, substance use, gender, age, race, disabilities, incarceration, chronic illness, and family stress.
“Why are people homeless?” National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). Web. July 2009. February 15,2011.
Although most people know what homelessness is and it occurs in most societies, it is important to define because the forces of displacement vary greatly, along with the arrangement and meaning of the resulting transient state. The Stewart B McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 defined a homeless person as “an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence or a person who resides in a shelter, welfare hotel, transitional program or place not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation, such as streets, cars, movie theaters, abandoned buildings, etc.” Resent surveys conducted in the U.S. have confirmed that the homeless population in America is extremely diverse and includes representatives from all segments of society, including: the old and young, men and women, single people and families, city dwellers and rural residents, whites and people of color, employed and unemployed, able workers and people with serious health problems. The diversity among people that are homeless reflects how difficult it is to generalize the causes of homelessness and the needs of homeless people. Robert Rosenheck M.D., the author of Special Populations of Homeless Americans, explains the importance of studying homelessness based on subgroups, “each subgroup [of homeless people] has unique service needs and identifying these needs is critical for program planning and design.” Despite these diversities, homelessness is a devastating situation for all that experience it. Not only have homeless people lost their dwelling, but they have also lost their safety, privacy, control, and domestic comfort.
It can be argued that the economic hardships of the great recession began when interest rates were lowered by the Federal Reserve. This caused a bubble in the housing market. Housing prices plummeted, home prices plummeted, then thousands of borrowers could no longer afford to pay on their loans (Koba, 2011). The bubble forced banks to give out homes loans with unreasonably high risk rates. The response of the banks caused a decline in the amount of houses purchased and “a crisis involving mortgage loans and the financial securities built on them” (McConnell, 2012 p.479). The effect on the economy was catastrophic and caused a “pandemic” of foreclosures that effected tens of thousands home owners across the U.S. (Scaliger, 2013). The debt burden eventually became unsustainable and the U.S. crisis deepened as the long-term effect on bank loans would affect not only the housing market, but also the job market.
Homelessness poses a serious threat in all countries as people are exposed in an unsafe environment and try to live on change. “Do you have any spare change?” No I don’t have spare change, get a job you animal. We see people all over the streets holding signs and bringing their children to ask for change but during that whole time they could be doing something productive, like getting a job. Homelessness is a problem everywhere and its worse in other countries but here in America we have it rough. We have the means to fix homelessness with giving jobs to them in the fields of science and energy.
Homelessness has different meanings to different people; someone who has never been homeless might think homelessness is a person who lives on the street, in a tent or in a box. Many people don’t realize that there are a number of homeless people, who couch surf with friends, family or the ones who live in motels which are unaccountable in the numbers of homeless people. People including families with children, seniors, single parents, youths and those that are single are living in accommodations that are below standards and consider themselves as homeless.
Ratner, Lizzy. "The Economic Recession Is Increasing Homelessness." Homelessness. Ed. Tamara Thompson. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Boom Town and Bust City: A Tale of Two New Yorks." The Nation (14 Feb. 2011). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
"Overview of Homelessness In America." Homelessness In America. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. .
December 2007 was the beginning of the Recession, and was by far the most dramatic employment contraction since the Great Depression. The Recession had massive job loss, fallen income for workers,
Homelessness is everywhere, it is not a new trend and is a growing problem. Many people ask themselves should I help the homeless or not; it is easier to just ignore the problem than to give a helping hand. Every person needs help at one point or another in their life and homeless people should be no different. Assisting the homeless with healthcare, housing, and childcare are ways people are able to and should help the homeless.
This great nation of awesome power and abundant resources is losing the battle against homelessness. The casualties can be seen on the street corners of every city in American holding an ?I will work for food? sign. Homeless shelters and rescue missions are at full capacity. There is no room at the inn for the nation?s indigent. Anyone who has studied this issue understands that homelessness is a complex problem. Communities continue to struggle with this socio-economic problem while attempting to understand its causes and implement solutions. The public and private sectors of this country are making a difference in the lives of the homeless by addressing the issues of housing, poverty and education.