Why is Homelessness Still a Problem?

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It has been said that we all are but one misfortune away from becoming homeless ourselves.

I think that's truer than we know. For at any moment, be it today, next week, or next year, someone like you or me could experience an unexpected life circumstance. This unexpected event could prevent us from working.

Suppose, for a man named Bob Jackson, it was a car wreck. In January of 2021, he merged onto a freeway on-ramp and slid out of control on black ice.

Awaking from his accident with a concussion and a dislocated left arm, Bob was in a lot of pain. But what contributed to Bob's homelessness the most was a severely injured lumbar, (a portion of the spine that is located near the lower back.)

Depending solely on income received from disability, Bob made too little to pay the rent. So he eventually was forced to migrate to a tent, ducking and dodging law enforcement who considered his sleeping outside a crime. (Bob was subjected to anti-camping laws. These are laws imposed by cities that make it illegal for the homeless to sleep outdoors anywhere within city limits.)

Like Bob, many people sleep on the streets due to physical disabilities. Research suggests that about one in five unsheltered people who are unemployed may be homeless due to it alone (✓1).

Because physical disabilities still exist, and because severe disabilities cause homelessness, (especially in areas where government-assisted housing is non-existent or bears long waiting lists,) homelessness still exists because physical disabilities do. This is also true of mental illness.

Here are 8 other reasons why homelessness is still a problem:

8) PEOPLE STILL CHOOSE TO SLEEP OUTSIDE

Then, of course, there are the men and women who, for whatever reason, prefer to sleep outside. This population may enjoy the adventure of sleeping outdoors or the luxury of not having to pay rent.

While the reason why most people are homeless has nothing to do with an intentional decision to be, (most are miserably unsheltered and would prefer to get off the streets as soon as they can,) some people do choose to be homeless. They choose it for its benefits, benefits like no rent to pay and sleeping under the stars.

If a person has a legal right to sleep outside, and some people choose to do so if it is legal, then homelessness will always exist while it is legal.

So if we want homelessness to be less abundant, we would be best keeping it illegal.

But this suggestion has infuriated many.

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, for example, deems the criminalization of homelessness "cruel, inhuman, and degrading" to homeless individuals (✓2).

The brilliant thinker and associate professor of law at the University of Ottawa Terry Skolnik worries that the current criminalization of sleeping outdoors is impossible for the unsheltered to follow. It also fails to take into account human dignity and morality. As Skolnik writes:

"I am concerned with how requiring people to follow impossible rules negatively impacts their dignity and equality interests" (✓3).

Plus, what about people like Bob? People, who are homeless due to physical disabilities or mental illnesses? Is it not unethical to persecute them for city camping when they literally have no other options?

Some might even conclude that homelessness is a modern stigma. Our ancestors slept outside for most of existence. Even in the days of the Bible, it was quite common for people to pitch a tent outdoors.

Only recently has it been the norm, in fact, to sleep indoors and feel bothered by those who don't.

Regardless, the fact of the matter is that some people choose to sleep outdoors.

So another reason why homelessness is still a problem is that some people choose to be homeless.

7) SOCIETY STILL DOES NOT PROVIDE ENOUGH SHELTER

Maybe it would be more ethical to criminalize homelessness, however, if
we gave the homeless a place to go.

But in almost every major city of the world, most homeless shelters are filled to maximum capacity.

Governments for whatever reason, be it they don't want to spend the extra money, or don't want to encourage more people to be homeless, still do not provide enough shelter for the homeless to retreat to.

Non-profit organizations, doing everything they can to help, often receive too little funding from citizens and governments to shelter all.

Because too few homeless shelters exist to accommodate every homeless person, when law enforcement is tasked to crack down on the homeless problem on the grounds that is unlawful to sleep or loiter anywhere within city limits, (it is unlawful because it is illegal to camp or loiter anywhere 24 hours a day outside of a campground,) officers are often unable to tell the homeless exactly where to move to.

If all of the homeless shelters in the area are filled to maximum capacity, where could law enforcement tell a homeless person to go?

The unsheltered, thus, are forced to leave one location and move to the next. They merely set camp at a new location that is easier to hide out at, a location that law enforcement, if catching them setting up camp, will be obliged to make them leave too.

Ask a man with a tinfoil hat what that means and he'll say that it means that...

cities want the homeless to move outside of jurisdictions, or to hide out of sight at the very minimum. That way, to the complaining public who does know not the evil which they prompt, homelessness looks like less of a problem.

If more homeless shelters existed, however, law enforcement could direct the homeless to these. They could direct the homeless to homeless shelters rather than contributing to what currently happens commonly: The anxiously homeless herded into refuge and hiding.

Though at present not enough homeless shelters do exist.

So another reason why homelessness is still a problem is that too few shelters exist.

6) THE COST OF LIVING IS STILL TOO HIGH

In addition to too few homeless shelters, the cost of living is too high for some people.

Food at the grocery stores is getting no cheaper. Rent rates are soaring to epic highs.

Some people can't even work a full-time job without struggling to get the rent in on time. This population may work day in and day out, but still are they too poor. Others, maybe earning enough, but just enough to barely scrape by, also have difficulties paying the rent.

If food and rent were affordable for all, however, much fewer people would be homeless. But many factors prevent food and rent costs from lowering. Some of which are even outside of anyone's control.

So another reason why homelessness is still a problem is that the cost of living is still too high.

5) WAGES ARE STILL TOO LOW

Of course, unaffordable living wouldn't be such a problem to some if they only had enough money to pay their rising bills.

But wages for some are too low as well. Many jobs pay barely above the minimum wage. The minimum wage, however, doesn't exactly support a family.

Left with too little money to pay the rent, homelessness is sometimes caused by low wages. Then, because it's difficult for the homeless to retain or gain higher paying employment while unsheltered, it is difficult for various reasons which I discuss in an article entitled, "Why can't Homeless People Get Jobs," people are remaining homeless for long durations.

Of course, if everyone got paid a little more it would be easier to pay the rent, and thus because it is easier, fewer people would be homeless, (if only there were a good way to make this happen,) another reason why homelessness is still a problem is that wages are still too low.

4) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STILL HAPPENS

Not only are people still homeless because of unaffordable living and low wages, but some are also unsheltered because they are victims. Many people become homeless due to intimate partner violence.

Domestic violence results in homelessness when a victim flees an abuser to escape further abuse. In circumstances in which the victim has nowhere else to go, he or she may sleep on the streets.

Especially true is this if the abuser pays some or all of the rent. In circumstances of this nature, victims often have difficulties obtaining new housing. In the U.S. alone, a person is physically abused by a domestic partner roughly every three seconds (✓4).

So another reason why homelessness is still a problem is domestic violence still happens.

3) DEATH STILL VISITS SPOUSES

Like domestic violence, homelessness can result when a relationship ceases leaving one or more people to pay the portion of the bills that the other partner usually paid.

Some people are homeless right now because a spouse unexpectedly passed away leaving them with no way to cover the rent on their own.

Since death is one of the two golden guarantees of life, people are now and will probably always be homeless because partners pass.

So another reason why homelessness still exists is death still visits spouses.

2) DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE IS STILL A PROBLEM

As I'm sure that you can imagine, drugs and alcohol can be a reason why a person ends up on the streets.

Not everyone who uses drugs and alcohol does though, of course. But for the ones that do become homeless as a result of drugs or alcohol, an inability to retain employment, or a preference to not work may be a reason.

Despite popular belief, however, drug and alcohol abuse is not the...

most common reason why a person becomes unhoused. It's often hard for a researcher to directly attribute drug or alcohol abuse as a primary cause of homelessness for various reasons. But research suggests that only about a third of homeless individuals may be dependent on drugs or alcohol (✓5).

Nonetheless, drugs and alcohol abuse may be a cause for a portion of the one-third who report using intoxicating substances.

So another reason why homelessness is still an issue is that drug and alcohol use still is.

1) PEOPLE STILL GET EVICTED

With eviction once cited as one of the top ten causes for homelessness (✓6), it may be safe to conclude that homelessness is still a problem because eviction occurs.

Often arising from an inability to get the full amount of rent in on time, homelessness will probably always exist because eviction probably will.

The same also goes for job loss. A loss of a job may also be a reason for homelessness.

So the final reason why homelessness is still a problem is that eviction and job loss still happen.

SUMMARY

Homelessness is still a problem for many reasons.

First, mental and physical disabilities and illnesses still do. Unless we make leaps in medical advancements or begin providing shelter to each and every person in need, homelessness will probably always be a problem.

Next, some people choose to be homeless. While to some it is alluring to continue to criminalize homelessness, ethical considerations seem to urge against it.

In addition to disabilities and the choice to be homeless, not enough beds exist to accommodate all. If did they only, the city could send the homeless to them.

Homelessness is also still an issue because the cost of living is too high for some. With too little money left after groceries to pay rent, some find themselves sleeping in a tent.

Another reason is that wages for some are too low. This population may work a full-time job and cannot still pay rent.

Domestic violence is another reason why homelessness is still a problem. Domestic violence causes homelessness when a victim flees home to escape an abuser.

Also, spousal death is responsible. When a spouse who pays some or all of the bills passes, it can be difficult for the surviving partner to pay all the bills.

Drug and alcohol use is still prevalent as well. While it may not be as common of a reason as one would expect, it still is a factor in why people are homeless.

The final reason why homelessness is still a problem is that job loss and eviction still occur.

conclusion

So the next time you see a homeless person think, of uncontrollable life circumstances, and not enough shelters as reasons why homelessness remains.