US homelessness hits record high
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Data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that homelessness spiked by over 12% in 2023 with California, New York, Florida, and Washington housing the highest levels of homeless people.
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Tents for the homeless line a sidewalk in Los Angeles California in December 2019 (AFP)
The number of homeless persons in the United States has risen to its highest level since 2007, as rising living costs force some of the most vulnerable citizens into shelters and on the streets.
Data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that homelessness spiked by over 12% in 2023 affecting a total of 653,104 people.
The federal government calls it the steepest growth since it began keeping totals in 2007.
According to the data, four out of ten homeless people are in "places not meant for human inhabitants," where the community of unsheltered individuals is particularly vulnerable to violence and prosecution.
California, New York, Florida, and Washington have the highest homeless populations, and HUD found that homelessness has increased across all demographics, even affecting children and veterans.
According to USA Today, more than 12% of the country was living below the poverty level in 2022, the most recent year for which statistics are available, and over 13% stated they didn't have enough to eat.
Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, believes the dramatic increase this year is because more individuals are becoming homeless faster and more people are becoming homeless for the first time.
"More folks are reporting, as they're showing up in the homeless services system, that they're coming directly from a lease," she noted.
Olivia explained that homeless service providers have been particularly stressed in recent years since more individuals require assistance while it has been more difficult to shelter people as housing costs have risen.
Data also shows that 37% of the homeless population are African Americans.
Recently released data by the US Census Bureau shows that millions of American families fell into poverty in the wake of dwindling government-funded pandemic assistance and shrinking incomes with children hit the hardest, as their poverty rate doubled compared to the previous year.
HUD data indicates the number of persons who became homeless for the first time grew by 30% between 2020 and 2022.
Renters who were formerly "stably housed," according to Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the US National Low Income Housing Coalition, have been forced to re-enter "a brutal housing market, with skyrocketing rents and high inflation."
