The Problem of Homelessness in America

Imagine sleeping on a crowded footpath in the middle of the city, sirens ringing, people screaming and car engines running, you don’t have your own private space or a comftorable bed to sleep on at night, only the hard dirty suface beneath your feet. This is what an individual who is homeless on the streets experiences.Homelessness is the state in which a person has no home or shelter over their head. It is defined as living in housing that is below the standards or has a lack of stable structure.

There is a total of 324.5 million people in the United States and there is a total of 552,830 people experiencing homelessness on a single night . This means that 17 out of every 10,000 people in the United States are experiencing homelessness each year. (‘State of Homelessness in America,’ 2016). Data shows that famililes represent that fastest grwoing group among the homeless in the United States, however adults make up the largest group among the population of the homeless (‘Who Are the Homeless? – NCBI Bookshelf,’ n.d.). The bar graph shows the total number of pepople who are experiencing homelessness per year. It is eveident that individuals and people in families make up a large percentage of the popualtion of the homeless in the United States. Mothers, Fathers and theri children are on our streets each night trying to keep warm and trying to stay alive. The Unied States as the lowest wages for emplyees, and lots of people who are unemployed. This affects and contributes to how much parents can provide for their family, it can lead families to become homeless and live on the streets of busy and crowded cities. Based on research, it’s estimated that 150 million people, or about 2 percent of the world’s population, are homeless. However, about 1.6 billion, more than 20 percent of the world’s population, may lack adequate housing (‘As Cities Grow, So Do the Numbers of Homeless,’ n.d.). The United States has the highest popualtion of homelessness as more than half a million people are sleeping on the streets in the United States. The map on the right shows the scale of the amount of homelessness in the states in the US. Almost half of the population of the homeless in the United States are all concentreated in California. Each year in California there are 129,972 who are lving on the streets or suffering from homelessness. It has also been recorded as of January 2018, New York has an estimated 91,897 people who are experiencing homelessness on any given day or night (‘Homelessness & Poverty in New York City,’ n.d.). It is devasting to imagine what it would be like to feel no sense of belonging in this world, or feeling like an ornament on the sidewalk as people walk past you. variety of factors contribute to homelessness in the U.S, including a lack of affordable housing, low wages, poverty, and unemployment. In recent years, the American housing crisis escalated the number of families living without homes in this country. ​low wages are major factor which contributes to homelessness as people are under payed and cannot afford to buy a house or apartment as the prices are very high and people who are homeless cannot reach the price to afford a roof over their head at night when they sleep. According to (‘State of Homelessness,’ 2017) within the years 2017 and 2018, homelessness has increased by 0.3 percent. From the data which has been collected it is evident that individuals who are homeless are experiencing very little progress, as their rates of living homeless has only dropped by 10 percent. The group of individual homelessness includes Veterans, vhronically ill people, families, individuals and youth (‘State of Homelessness,’ 2017). The biggest issue of homelessness is in the United States Many people all over the world are homeless, on of the leading causes of homelessness in the United States is the cost of housing in the face of Its easy to forget about the those who dont have a house, or a bed to sleep on at night, not even a roof to shelter them from the rain. 

Through research it is clear that the United States has the highest population of homelessness. Individuals who are living on the streets or lost without a home can be affected in manny ways by living in such conditions. Factors such as low wages and poverty have major impacts on a persons life and their state of living. Homeless people around the world feel like everyoe has turned a blind eye on them as they are thrown to the outskirts of cities and towns, where they are forgotten about, or they are crammed in the middle of busy streets and walked over by people passing through. ‘The measure of civilization is how it treats its weakest memebers’ this is a quote spoken by Gandhi, he says this when describing how the United States treats people in need of help. People in the world have a choice, where they can help or be bystanders and watch. We can make a change in this world and help those who are homeless in our cities. Homelessness can have a negative impact on the environment as encampments on streets and in cities can be harmful to other members of the community, they can damage business and drain city resources (‘Impact of Homeless Encampments on the Environment,’ n.d.). the use of drugs and needles is very high within homeless encampments and are tossed onto busy streets and pathways and are not disposed properly. ​stagnating incomes. In the United States people are homeless because of the lack of affordable housing. this is a major issue as people in America have low wages and are unable to afford to live in a house as the prices are too high. People living in New York individuals are not able to pass by on a minimum wage. One missed paycheck is just one step away from a person being evicted from their home. It is evident that New York has the lowest income rate for wages in America, as people who are working are unable to afford rent and are unable to provide life necessities for their families. Poverty is another underlying cause of homelessness (‘Homelessness & Poverty in New York City,’ n.d.). There are many factors which contribute to an individual becoming homeless, but poverty is a major one. This is because poverty is when a person is at a great risk of becoming homeless and therefore they are struggling with financial issues and are unable to retain their house as they cannot afford to live in their home anymore.

These factors have a major impact on a person’s mental and physical wellbeing. Homelessness affects a person’s quality of life, with people often experiencing feelings of isolation, homelessness can also increase a person’s chances of taking drugs or experiencing physical or mental health problems. Evidence suggests that the longer someone is in the position of being homeless, the more difficult it can become to get back on your feet. Individuals who are homeless have a lack of access to health care and treatments. Acording to (‘Health and Homelessness,’ n.d.) people without homes have higher rates of hospitalizations for physical illnesses, mental illness and substance abuse than other populations of individuals  

Works Cited

1. National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2016). State of Homelessness in America. https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness-report-2016/
2. National Center for Biotechnology Information. (n.d.). Who Are the Homeless? – NCBI Bookshelf.
3. NPR. (n.d.). As Cities Grow, So Do the Numbers of Homeless. https://www.npr.org/2018/08/09/637056547/as-cities-grow-so-do-the-numbers-of-homeless
4. Coalition for the Homeless. (n.d.). Homelessness & Poverty in New York City. https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/homelessness-in-new-york/
5. National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2017). State of Homelessness.
6. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (n.d.). The Impact of Homeless Encampments on the Environment.