poverty argument

Poverty Argument – Part 2
Although we can never actually trace poverty and homelessness all the way back to its origin, we can pinpoint the main causes of poverty in America. Homelessness has two factors that are solely responsible for the increase over the past 25 years: an increasing shortage of affordable rental homes and a simultaneous increase in poverty.
Homelessness and poverty are linked. With limited resources, poverty stricken people are frequently forced to make difficult choices about housing, food, childcare, healthcare, and education. A large portion of poor people are homeless because they never find the adequate resources to support themselves and keep housing. Since housing absorbs a high amount of income, it is common for people to be homeless while still keeping a job so they can use their money simply for necessities.
Because of our growing economy and high unemployment rate homelessness seems to grow worse in many areas of the country. It is not just with people who are unemployed, but homelessness is a problem for people that have jobs with little to no benefits. Although, the past few years we have had growth in wages, the increases have not cancelled the long history of declining wages from the past. Many shelters and centers for the homeless house full time employees. The problem is the job growth is only affecting the people at the top of the income and wealth chain. All that does is get the rich people richer, while leaving the poverty stricken workers to struggle in the same situation.
A decline in public assistance increases poverty. Welfare helps those in need while they have it, but many families experience extreme loss of benefits, low wages, and unstable jobs when they leave the welfare program causing housing to be unaffordable and forcing these families to get back on the streets. When welfare rolls are forced to drop caseloads, it actually worsens the situation rather than promoting those families to look for jobs. These people do better without jobs, living off of welfare checks rather than working at a low paying job with no benefits.
The large difference between the number of available, affordable houses and the number of people demanding them creates a catastrophe for low income recipients. “Between 1973 and 1993, 2.2 million low-rent units disappeared from the market. The units were either abandoned, converted into condominiums or expensive apartments, or became unaffordable because of cost increases. Between 1991 and 1995, median rental costs paid by low-income renters rose 21%; at the same time, the number of low-income renters increased.” (HFTH)
Other such things that impact poverty and homelessness are factors such as lack of affordable health care, domestic violence, mental illnesses, and addiction disorders. If a family is already having a hard time paying rent, a sickness or disability can directly cause homelessness. It begins with unemployment, then loss of saved money (if there is any), and concluding in eviction. Women who live in poverty usually resort to relationships to stay off the streets, even if this means being in an abusive one. “Nationally, approximately half of all women and children experiencing homelessness are fleeing domestic violence ( Zora, 1991; NCADV, 2001).” A lot of people believe that homeless people with mental illness are a direct result of the release of severely ill people from institutions. Although, many mentally ill people were released in the 50’s and 60’s, the increase in homelessness didn’t appear until the late 80’s when housing choices began to disappear. The last issue of addiction is a controversial subject. It hasn’t been defined as an actual cause of poverty, but it is definitely a repercussion. The drug and alcohol abuse rate is high among homelessness, but homelessness can’t be blamed on an addiction. The controversy is over people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol that never end up homeless, and the number of homeless people that have an addiction. Addiction can cause a rise in poverty because of the money spent on the drug, or because it causes the addict to miss out on healthy social activities such as work. “Homelessness results from a complex set of circumstances that require people to choose between food, shelter, and other basic needs.”(U.S.DHUD)
Other unexpected factors play a role in poverty and homelessness such as natural disasters and unexpected emergencies. Many normal, working class people’s lives can change in a moment. It takes any catastrophe such as floods, fires, storms, or earthquakes to destroy a family’s home. Most of these tragedies are unrecoverable. Unless the family has good insurance, just one of these could be devastating. Even those that have insurance can be left to the streets when these things happen in mass quantities. Insurance companies can’t take a blow like Katrina that drove over one million Americans out of their homes.
Some people cannot recover from sudden and surprising issues such as being laid off from a job, losing their home, injuries, and sudden illnesses. It isn’t just hard because of the money that is spent to correct these problems, but more because of the psychological difficulties it brings, and breaking of the spirit. Some people hit rock bottom, and it causes them to become homeless.
Almost 3.5 million people experience homelessness in a given year. 40% of homeless people are families with children. 41% are single males, and 14% are single females. Only 5% are minors unaccompanied by adults. Almost 49% are African American. 35% are Caucasian, while 13% are Hispanic. The smallest ethnic groups that are part of the homeless population in America are Native Americans that make up 2% and the Asian-Americans that make up the final 1%.
Statistically, the background of homeless people, usually have traumatic experiences that cause their homelessness. Veterans make up 23% of the homeless population. Physically or sexually abused individuals make up 25%. Adults who were in foster care as children make up 27% of the homeless population. 21% of homeless adults were homeless at some point during their child hood and the largest group of 54% includes those who were incarcerated at some point in their life.