Each year 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness. On any given night, 730,000 people are homeless. 23% of these people are children. The causes of homelessness include: addiction, mental illness, poverty, foreclosure, and lack of affordable housing (National Coalition for the Homeless). While individuals may adopt the view that some of these are choices, increasingly homelessness is becoming a condition of the American economy.
For example, statistics indicate that in 2009, a worker would need to earn $14.97 an hour on average to afford a one-bedroom apartment and $17.84 to afford a two-bedroom apartment. (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2009). There is a lack of housing assistance for lower income families. About 1/3 of poor renter households receive subsidized rent from federal, state, or local programs. There is an average wait of 35 months for Section 8 vouchers in the U.S.
This has placed a greater burden on homeless shelters and extended the average amount of time a person or family remains homeless. The average time a person remains homeless is 7 months. Recent trends indicate that this time is being extended, contributing to the shortage of shelter space and/or long term affordable housing. The federal government has not responded adequately to the need to provide low-income housing. In fact, in 2003 the Government spent almost twice on federal programs for housing within the top tax brackets as it did on those in the lower income range.
There has been a 32% increase in foreclosures during the period April 2008-2009. In September 2010, 338,836 homes were foreclosed upon, up 2. 53% since August 2010. It is still too early too tell how this will affect the homeless population but early research suggests that it is putting a strain on the organizations that have historically provided for the homeless.
Sources:
The National Coalition for the Homeless (2009). Why are people homeless?
http://nationalhomeless.org
The National Low Income Housing Coalition
http://www.nlihc.org