Homelessness: Still On the Rise
By Cole Gerig, July 12, 2018
When determining how much of a problem homelessness is for the United States in general, it's important to note that the amount of homeless in the U.S. is currently on the rise. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Annual Homeless Assessment Report in December of 2017 the total number of homeless people in the U.S. rose by .7% and the amount of un-sheltered homeless rose by 9%, both since 2016 (Benedict). Even more upsetting is that according to the same organization, in 2017, on a given night, around 554,000 people were homeless with around 193,000 un-sheltered, meaning "living on the streets", without any "emergency shelters, transitional housing, or Safe Havens" (Benedict). the surprising part is that this is all contrary with the growth in the U.S. economy during 2017 where during the third-quarter, "gross domestic product expanded at a 3.3 percent annual rate", being considered "the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2014" (Mutikani). In general, even if the U.S. is in a strong place economically, that doesn't mean that homeless numbers are going down and in fact, they are still going up. It makes one wonder if the problem with homelessness has very little to do with economics at all.
Sources:
Benedict, Kizley. "Estimating the Number of Homeless in America." The DataFace, 21 January 2018, http://thedataface.com/2018/01/public-health/american-homelessness. Accessed 12 July 2018.
Mutikani, Lucia. "U.S. third-quarter economic growth fastest in three years." Reuters, 29 Nov. 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-gdp/u-s-third-quarter-economic-growth-fastest-in-three-years-idUSKBN1DT1W7. Accessed 12 July 2018.
(Photo Taken by George Hodan; Part of Public Domain)
When determining how much of a problem homelessness is for the United States in general, it's important to note that the amount of homeless in the U.S. is currently on the rise. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Annual Homeless Assessment Report in December of 2017 the total number of homeless people in the U.S. rose by .7% and the amount of un-sheltered homeless rose by 9%, both since 2016 (Benedict). Even more upsetting is that according to the same organization, in 2017, on a given night, around 554,000 people were homeless with around 193,000 un-sheltered, meaning "living on the streets", without any "emergency shelters, transitional housing, or Safe Havens" (Benedict). the surprising part is that this is all contrary with the growth in the U.S. economy during 2017 where during the third-quarter, "gross domestic product expanded at a 3.3 percent annual rate", being considered "the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2014" (Mutikani). In general, even if the U.S. is in a strong place economically, that doesn't mean that homeless numbers are going down and in fact, they are still going up. It makes one wonder if the problem with homelessness has very little to do with economics at all.
Sources:
Benedict, Kizley. "Estimating the Number of Homeless in America." The DataFace, 21 January 2018, http://thedataface.com/2018/01/public-health/american-homelessness. Accessed 12 July 2018.
Mutikani, Lucia. "U.S. third-quarter economic growth fastest in three years." Reuters, 29 Nov. 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-gdp/u-s-third-quarter-economic-growth-fastest-in-three-years-idUSKBN1DT1W7. Accessed 12 July 2018.
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