Every person without a home has a story about how they ended up on the streets. Domestic violence, loss of a job, eviction from a rental, a recession, medical issues, a natural disaster, etc. These are valid reasons for homelessness, plus many more. I generally believe a person when they tell me how they wound up in their situation, and have sympathy for them. I can identify with them, though I do have a van for my home. Living without a permanent shelter isn’t an easy life, even in more temperate climates.
That said, there are often underlying issues that hasten someone’s slide into homelessness. Some are problems with American society itself. Like rising housing cost, food deserts in urban areas, high living expenses, companies that are unwilling to pay a living wage or give full-time hours and benefits, recessions, the low savings rate of Americans, and more. These are systemic troubles that need a large national effort to solve.
I could write in depth on each of these causes. But today, I want to focus on just a few that rarely get attention, but are among the primary reasons for homelessness.
There was a study done by Bankrate recently that analyzed how much poor people spend on vices. Poor was classified as those bringing in less than $30,000 per year. Vices were classified as lottery tickets, cigarettes, alcohol, and other forms of gambling (casinos, sports betting, etc). The figures are staggering!
13%- lottery tickets
11%- alcohol
13%- cigarettes
4%- gambling
That equals 41% of income. There are other expensive habits that should have been added in. Sodas, illegal drugs, pot, vaping, coffee, junk food, fast food. I’m sure that would push the total way over 50%.
These are poor people that are spending like that. No wonder so many end up broke and homeless! Even cutting down the percentages would allow them to start building up savings for emergencies and for the future. But it’s not happening. In fact many are going into credit card debt, mortgaging their future. So it only takes a minor expense or reduction in income to push some into homelessness. Which brings me to my next point.
So many are financially retarded. They don’t comprehend how to balance a budget or plan ahead. Whatever money comes in each month, goes right back out. If there is a surplus, like from selling a vehicle, getting an inheritance, receiving a tax refund; they tend to spend it extravagantly. A vacation to Las Vegas appeals to many. Perhaps eating out at more expensive restaurants. Buying a new wardrobe. Getting an ATV. And so on.
I know many that receive food stamps and spend their monthly allowance, all on the first day. It’s like they don’t think it’ll still be there in two days if it’s not spent. Instant gratification. Money is a hot potato to them, and must be gotten rid of, as quickly as possible. Financial planning and budgeting classes should be high priorities for both high schools and colleges. But it is rarely emphasized. And the local, state, and federal governments set poor examples with their wasteful spending that creates every increasing deficits. No wonder people wind up on the streets.
There is a lack of affordable housing for a number of reasons. Greed is a primary reason. The rich charge high rents because they can get away with it. The population is increasing, despite the large numbers of abortions every year. The poor and uneducated tend to have the biggest families, which strains their budgets. Tax deductions for each child, food stamp increases for the larger families, and other benefits largely offset the budget raised by each additional child. But larger homes cost much more than small ones.
A major reason for more expensive housing is gentrification. The older, cheaper houses and apartments are removed, and replaced by new ones. Poor people’s rent goes skyhigh and they end up homeless.
Another reason is never mentioned because of political correctness. But I’ll say it. We have somewhere between 12-30 million illegal aliens in our country. Not only are they taking jobs from Americans and thereby depressing the wages, they are also snapping up a huge amount of the cheaper housing. If they suddenly disappeared, housing prices and rents would fall back to Earth. Some would say I’m being racist, by even mentioning this. Not true! This is simple logic and math. With illegals gone, there would be no shortage of jobs or housing. It would only be the lazy and severely handicapped folk not working. The homeless rate would become miniscule.
Drug and alcohol addiction plague most of the homeless. When so much of one’s attention and resources go towards filling that craving, there’s little time or money left for being a solid, contributing member of society. Many of these addicts are also criminals and/or with mental issues. They need tough love. Involuntary incarceration in jails, mental institutions, or addiction centers should become much more common than it is. It would be expensive to do this, but the reduction in crime and improvement of the areas now overrun with homeless would be worth it. The inmates would need extensive rehabilitation; including classes in cooking, personal finance, hygiene, ethics, addiction counseling, and more, before being released back into society on a trial basis.
There is so much more that could be expanded upon and added. Maybe another time.
iggyvandweller 