Children of War

Of all the causes of homelessness, lack of affordable housing is the one least understood by the public. Two decades ago there were more cheap apartments than were poor people, but now people the need of affordable homes outnumber cheap or rent controlled apartments by about two to one and those odds are increasing daily. Simply put, a lack of affordable housing and the limitations of housing assistance programs have contributed to the current housing crisis and to homelessness.

The two best quantitative studies of homelessness are Peter Rossi's Down and out in America and Martha Burt's Over the edge. (The Homeless by Christopher Jencks pg. 81) In these books they mention that starting as early as the 1970s the rents rose faster than the ability to pay the increased amounts.

Homelessness and poverty are directly linked. Many difficult choices must be made when there are limited resources. Those who have a lower income or a larger family or both are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and all other normal household expenses. What money is earned can cover only some of these needs. As we know it is our housing that uses the highest proportion of an income. If you are poor, and barely making it paycheck to paycheck you are just an illness or an accident, away from living on the streets.

In 2007, 12.5% of the U.S. population, or 37, 300, 000 people, lived in poverty. The official poverty rate in 2007 was not statistically different than 2006 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2007). Children are overrepresented, composing 35.7% of people in poverty while only being 24.8% of the total population. (Nationalcolotionforthehomeless.org) This is due to the many multi-child families in the United States.

Declining wages have put housing out of reach for many workers: in every state, more than the minimum wage is required to afford a one- or two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. Unfortunately, for approximately 12 million Americans, more than 50% of their salaries go towards the cost of housing, again resulting in sacrifices in other necessary areas such as health care coverage and education. In 2007, there was a survey performed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and would you believe that 17.4% of homeless adults in families were actually employed. Therefore, it shows that even those with employment can still be unable to support themselves as needed in the world today. We must realized that with the amount of outsourcing to other countries and new technology we have that there will be more job loss/migration and therefore, these numbers can and will increase radically over the years to come.

Mental and physical health disabilities can make it difficult to work and earn enough to afford necessary housing. Adults with disabilities living in poverty make up approximately 31% of the population in America that experiences poverty as a whole. The number of people living with disabilities