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Expensive housing options and an inadequate amount of housing assistance programs have both played a major role in the problem of homelessness(NationalHomeless.Org). Foreclosures have also caused an increasingly large number of people to have to live homeless(NationalHomeless.Org). Homelessness and poverty are connected inseparably(NationalHomeless.Org). People with low income are often incapable of affording a lot of the resources and life necessities(NationalHomeless.Org). Housing takes up a large amount of a person’s annual earnings, and being poor basically entails that you are potentially only one unfortunate circumstance away from being homeless(NationalHomeless.Org). Over approximately the last five years, the poverty rate has been on a slow and steady downward trend, though homelessness and poverty remain significant problems(NationalHomeless.Org). The site then goes onto explain and define the three variations of homelessness. Their titles are chronic homelessness, transitional homelessness, and episodic homelessness(NationalHomeless.Org). People in poverty are at the greatest risk of dealing with homelessness, and in turn the demographics that are more likely than others to be impoverished are also more likely to live homeless(NationalHomeless.Org). Although homelessness is thought by many to be primarily a city/urban issue, people in smaller or more rural towns deal with the same issues regarding homelessness(NationalHomeless.Org).
This was a very informative and educational website to read. I learned a lot about poverty and homelessness; something significant that stuck out to me were the six main causes of homelessness discussed on the website. One main cause, simply put, is that there isn’t enough job opportunities; another cause is that there is a lot of difficulty receiving public aid due to low availability; a third cause is expensive healthcare(NationalHomeless.Org). For people who are already struggling and cannot afford healthcare, a serious injury or illness can lead homelessness because of the inability to work and having to pay for their medical bills out of pocket(NationalHomeless.Org). Domestic violence has also been shown to be a significant factor in leading to homelessness; this is because women leave home to escape their abusive partners and have to try to find somewhere else to live(NationalHomeless.Org). Mental illness is also a contributing factor to homelessness; around 16% of single homeless Americans have some variation of serious mental illness(NationalHomeless.Org).Addiction is the sixth cause of homelessness that the website mentions. It is disagreed upon whether or not there is a real and serious correlation between solely addiction and homelessness; however, for those who suffer from an addiction and who are also low-income, there is definitely a greater chance of homelessness(NationalHomeless.Org). The textbook and this website both make mention of the poverty rate. Ferris and Stein(2018) say that we don’t know the number of homeless people in the U.S.(Ferris & Stein, 2018). They explain that the Census Bureau isn’t fully reliable because it counts households and leaves out those living on the streets(Ferris & Stein, 2018). The website does give a specific poverty rate percentage and approximate number of impoverished Americans, though the statistics are from the Census Bureau. The site claims that three years ago the poverty rate was at 12.7%, with approximately 40.6 million Americans below the poverty line(National Homeless.Org).
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