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Why Do People Experience Homelessness?

Housing

There are currently two major contributors to the housing and homelessness crises: a lack of low cost housing nationwide and the limited scale of housing assistance programs.

Nationally, the cost of rental housing greatly exceeds wages earned by low-income renter households. For example, a full-time worker needs to earn on average $25.82 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom rental and $21.21 hourly to afford a one-bedroom ( National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2022). However, the national minimum wage is only $7.25!

Housing isn't only out of reach for minimum wage earners. The 2022 housing wage is far higher than the median hourly rate earned by customer service workers ($17.75), nursing assistants ($14.57), maintenance and repair workers ($20.76), home health aides ($14.15), retail workers ($14.03), and many others in the workforce.

Poverty

Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education. Difficult choices must be made when limited resources cover only some of these necessities. Often it is housing, which absorbs a high proportion of income that must be dropped. If you are poor, you are essentially an illness, an accident, or a paycheck away from living on the streets.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the national poverty rate in 2016 was 12.7%. There were 40.6 million people in poverty. While the poverty rate has been slowly declining since 2014, a couple of factors account for continuing poverty:

Lack of Employment Opportunities - With unemployment rates remaining high, jobs are hard to find in the current economy. Even if people can find work, this does not automatically provide an escape from poverty.

Decline in Available Public Assistance - The declining value and availability of public assistance is another source of increasing poverty and homelessness and many families leaving welfare struggle to get medical care, food, and housing as a result of loss of benefits, low wages, and unstable employment. Additionally, most states have not replaced the old welfare system with an alternative that enables families and individuals to obtain above-poverty employment and to sustain themselves when work is not available or possible.

Other major factors, which can contribute to homelessness, include:

Lack of Affordable Health Care - For families and individuals struggling to pay the rent, a serious illness or disability can start a downward spiral into homelessness, beginning with a lost job, depletion of savings to pay for care, and eventual eviction.

Domestic Violence - Battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness. In addition, 50% of the cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005).

Mental Illness - Approximately 16% of the single adult homeless population suffers from some form of severe and persistent mental illness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005).

Addiction - The relationship between addiction and homelessness is complex and controversial. Many people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs never become homeless, but people who are poor and addicted are clearly at increased risk of homelessness.

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Housing There are currently two major contributors to the housing and homelessness crises: a lack of low cost housing nationwide and the limited scale of housing assistance programs. Nationally, the cost of rental housing greatly exceeds wages earned by low-income renter households.

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Causes of Homelessness : Resources : How We Help : Arlington Life Shelter

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As the gap between increasing housing costs and stagnant incomes widens, the end result is that more people become homeless.

Housing Affordability and Homelessness

The nation is currently facing one of the most severe affordable housing crises in history. Not surprisingly, those living in poverty are the most significantly affected.

In the 1970s, communities had plenty of affordable housing. That meant that when a family or individual experienced a crisis and lost housing, they could quickly find another place to live. But by the mid-1980s, the supply of low-cost housing had shrunk significantly. Since then, rents have continued to rise and lower-income people in particular have experienced slow or stagnant wage growth.

Today, 8 extremely low-income households pay at least half of their income toward housing, putting them at risk of housing instability and homelessness.

The Solution to Homelessness: Housing

The solution to homelessness is straightforward: housing. By connecting people experiencing homelessness to housing and services, they have a platform from which they can address other areas that may have contributed to their homelessness - such as employment, health, and substance abuse.

Homeless Assistance Programs

There are two homelessness-focused housing models that have been demonstrated to effectively end homelessness. They are:

Permanent supportive housing: Permanent supportive housing pairs long-term rental assistance with supportive services. It is targeted to individuals and families with chronic illnesses, disabilities, mental health issues, or substance use disorders who have experienced long-term or repeated homelessness.

Rapid re-housing: Rapid re-housing provides short-term rental assistance and services. The goals are to help people obtain housing quickly, increase self-sufficiency, and stay housed.

Public Housing and Voucher Programs

Administered by HUD, public housing and voucher programs provide decent and safe affordable housing for low-income people and play a critical role in reducing homelessness.

Housing Choice Voucher Program (commonly known as "Section 8") has become the dominant form of federal housing assistance. The program, which provides vouchers to low-income households to help them pay for housing in the private market, has been found to sharply reduce homelessness.

Public housing is federally-funded housing that is rented at subsidized rates to eligible low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.

While both public housing and housing vouchers are proven to end homelessness, only one in four households that are eligible for such assistance receive it due to lack of funding.

Tackling the Affordable Housing Crisis

In many places across America, there is simply not enough available affordable housing. Without this housing stock, many homeless Americans are likely to continue to cycle in and out of homelessness.

The priority now must be to expand the supply of affordable housing. To do this, there is a need to increase HUD's ability to serve and house low-income individuals.
Updated January 2019.

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Housing - National Alliance to End Homelessness

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As the gap between increasing housing costs and stagnant incomes widens, the end result is that more people become homeless. Housing Affordability and Homelessness The nation is currently facing one of the most severe affordable housing crises in history. Not ...

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Many people who are poor are living pay check to pay check

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Many people who are poor are living pay check to pay check

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National Poverty Awareness Month is observed annually in January. So, it seems appropriate to follow up on the Topline Findings from the U.S. Administration on Community Living (ACL)'s 2021 Annual Profile of Older Americans blog post by focusing on poverty among older adults and its relationship to homelessness.

Poverty, defined and measured

Poverty's simple definition is the state of not having enough possessions or assets to fulfill a person's basic needs. Poverty has several causes, including a lack of access to basic needs such as food, water, and housing, as well as access to education and healthcare. It is also caused by systemic inequities such as gender, racial, and ethnic discrimination. Interpretations of progress against poverty and how social policies affect poverty depend on how poverty is measured.

How does poverty vary by select demographic characteristics of older Americans?

According to ACL's profile, in 2020, 55.7 million people in the U.S. were over the age of 65 and represented 17% of the population. Five million people aged 65 and older lived below the poverty level. At least 2.6 million were classified as "near poor," meaning their incomes were between the poverty level and 125 percent over the poverty level. The 2020 median income of older persons was $26,668.
To illustrate, here's a demographic breakdown of older adults living below the poverty level in 2020:

Gender: Men had higher median incomes ($35,808) when compared to women's median income of $21,245.
Gender disparities are also present in who experiences poverty: the poverty rate for women was 10.1 percent, while the poverty rate for men was 7.6 percent.

Race: Clear racial disparities exist among older adults experiencing poverty. The rate of White (non-Hispanic) older adult population living in poverty was 6.8 percent, compared to 17.2 percent of Blacks or African Americans, 11.5 percent of Asian Americans, and 16.6 percent of the Hispanic population (any race).

Marital Status: More men were married (69 percent) when compared to women (47 percent). Three times more women (9.1 million in total) were widowed when compared to men (2.7 million).

Living Arrangement: 15.2 million older adults lived alone, which equated to about 10.1 million women and 5.2 million men. It's important to note the proportion living alone increases with advanced age: for example, 43 percent of women aged 75 and older lived alone. When considering ACL's profile, it is evident that women, especially women of color and those living alone, are more likely to age into poverty than men.

Why does this matter?

The older adult population is growing: according to ACL data, the population of people aged 65 and older is expected to grow from 55.7 million in 2020 to 80.8 million by 2040. Poverty affects older adults differently than other groups because they are more vulnerable to economic instability when their physical health, cognitive abilities, and social networks decline.

Further, older Americans are finding that their pensions are inadequate to meet their basic needs, which include housing. According to the Harvard Joint Center on Housing, more than 2.2 million older adult renters with very low incomes had " worst case housing needs," which is defined as having severe cost burdens, living in severely inadequate housing, or both. This means low-income older adults may be more likely to struggle to afford basic medical care and their housing costs.

Since the majority of older adults live with chronic conditions, this often leads to increased out-of-pocket medical expenses. One serious health crisis could impact their ability to pay their usual bills, as many older adults live on fixed incomes. For example, social security is a primary source of income for most older Americans, and in 2020, the average monthly benefit was approximately $1,500. As medical needs increase, costs can be hard to keep up with, leading to a reduced ability to pay for other vital needs.

Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked: when economic instability increases, so does the risk of homelessness. Thus, older Americans living in poverty are at increased risk of becoming homeless or experiencing housing instability. Preventing homelessness through the eradication of poverty cannot be done through isolated interventions: addressing homelessness of older adults (which includes eliminating the racial gap in poverty in this population) requires lifelong approaches to systemic and structural discrimination.

Considerations

The All In: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness has a focus on prevention under its solutions pillar. With that in mind, here are some considerations to addressing the socioeconomic condition of older Americans, which can help to prevent their homelessness:

Check out the National Council on Aging's Benefits CheckUp® which is an online tool to connect older adults and people with disabilities to benefits.

Advocate for an increase in the benefit for single individuals since the maximum Supplemental Security Income benefit is more generous for married couples when compared to single individuals. See Justice in Aging SSI Policy.

Prioritize older adults for housing assistance. According to the Harvard Joint Center on Housing, only 36 percent of income-eligible older adults receive federal housing assistance.

Review whether using the SPM, which takes into account the cost for out-of-pocket medical expenses and geographic location, can be a viable measure to use for poverty guidelines. The OPM serves as the nation's source for official poverty statistics and for determining federal poverty guidelines produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Address the underlying high costs of health care.

Provide affordable, accessible housing with universal design concepts.

¹ Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts people in poverty with two measures: the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) and Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The OPM compares pre-tax cash income against an income threshold that determines how many people are in poverty. The income threshold is set at three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963 and adjusted for family size and age of householder.  Because of its limitations to reveal the true nature of poverty, the SPM was introduced in 2011. It adjusts for government programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and includes geographic differences in the cost of living and whether the family is paying rent or mortgage. It also tends to paint a more accurate picture of older adults' economic situation.

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The Relationship Between Poverty and Homelessness Among Older Adults

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National Poverty Awareness Month is observed annually in January. So, it seems appropriate to follow up on the Topline Findings from the U.S. Administration on Community Living (ACL)'s 2021 Annual Profile of Older Americans blog post by focusing on poverty [...]

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People who live in poverty are more likely to become homeless. 

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People who live in poverty are more likely to become homeless. 

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Someone who is homeless with addiction is likely to stay homeless unless their addiction is treated. 

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Someone who is homeless with addiction is likely to stay homeless unless their addiction is treated. 

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Southern California Sunrise Recovery Center

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Addiction and Homelessness | Southern California Sunrise

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Due to their unfortunate position in society, those who are homeless are prone to develop a substance use disorder. Visit SoCal Sunrise Recovery Center to learn more.

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Once someone who is homeless is dependent on alcohol or drugs, recovering becomes more difficult. 

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Once someone who is homeless is dependent on alcohol or drugs, recovering becomes more difficult. 

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The cost of rent has gone up significantly which means they spend most of their income on their rent. 

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The cost of rent has gone up significantly which means they spend most of their income on their rent. 

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Housing is no longer affordable which means that people who are homeless are more likely to stay homeless. 

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Housing is no longer affordable which means that people who are homeless are more likely to stay homeless. 

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That is the city's and county's main responsibility and should receive the most funding from resources dedicated to ending homelessness. 

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That is the city's and county's main responsibility and should receive the most funding from resources dedicated to ending homelessness. 

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"Yet programs to help people stay housed  are underfunded, scattered across different agencies and difficult to access" (To End Homelessness). 

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"Yet programs to help people stay housed  are underfunded, scattered across different agencies and difficult to access" (To End Homelessness). 

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"Officials estimated that these [homelessness programs] prevented 31,570 L.A. County residents from becoming homeless between July 2017 and September 2023" ( To End Homelessness). 

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"Officials estimated that these [homelessness programs] prevented 31,570 L.A. County residents from becoming homeless between July 2017 and September 2023" ( To End Homelessness). 

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"An estimated 500,00 tenants in the county are severely burdened by rent, meaning they spend half their income on housing"(To End Homelessness). 

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"An estimated 500,00 tenants in the county are severely burdened by rent, meaning they spend half their income on housing"(To End Homelessness). 

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When people work instead of staying home to take care of family it helps reduce the chances of poverty. Also promoting work would ultimately motivate the people who can work but refuse. 

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When people work instead of staying home to take care of family it helps reduce the chances of poverty. Also promoting work would ultimately motivate the people who can work but refuse. 

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To motivate people to work offering benefits that would give them little extra money would cause a decline in poverty.  

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To motivate people to work offering benefits that would give them little extra money would cause a decline in poverty.  

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By offering the homeless that struggle with addiction an option to go to rehab could be a life changing situation since they could recover and get their life back together. 

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By offering the homeless that struggle with addiction an option to go to rehab could be a life changing situation since they could recover and get their life back together. 

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United States Interagency Council on Homelessness

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Using Shelter Strategically to End Homelessness

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USICH is the only federal agency with the sole mission of preventing and ending homelessness in America. We coordinate with our 19 federal member agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector to create partnerships, implement evidence-based best practices, and use resources in the most efficient and effective ways.

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The homeless shelters would keep them housed until they are financially stable. This would allow them to have a place to stay for no cost until they are ready to leave. These shelters would provide everything they need for no cost. 

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The homeless shelters would keep them housed until they are financially stable. This would allow them to have a place to stay for no cost until they are ready to leave. These shelters would provide everything they need for no cost. 