Homeless, Working and Living on the Streets in the United States

Homeless, Working and Living on the streets in the United States

Cynthia Coleman

Sociology 101

Brianne Larsen

April 17, 2010

Homeless, Working and Living on the streets in the United States

What if you had to eat your Christmas dinner underneath a bridge on the cold dirt, because you and your family were evicted from you home? Children and families are the new faces of the homeless and hungry in America today and it seems that most of the Americans, as well as the government would like to ignore this growing crisis

This is what thousands of families do everyday, who live on the streets. These families have been kicked out of their houses or apartments because they cannot afford to pay their rent due to their low paying jobs or not having a job at all. Many of the poor in our country are part of the growing number of "working poor", they work very hard, very long, and still don't have enough money to feed, clothe or house their families. Most of the working poor in our country actually work forty or more hours a week at two, three or even four different jobs. I assure you, these people work very hard.

Homeless can be described as a person who has no permanent or adequate housing. It is impossible to know exactly how many families are homeless in the United States. These numbers change everyday for the reason that some families find homes, some lose their homes, and most of the time homeless families are in places that do not get counted. The only thing that is known for sure is that the homeless rate is increasing in this bad economical time. An increasing shortage of affordable housing has made climbing out of homelessness is almost impossible for a family who lives in extreme poverty.

Homelessness severely impacts the health and well being of all family members. Children without a home are in fair or poor health twice as often as other children, and have higher rates of asthma, ear infections, stomach problems, and speech problems (Caton, 1990). Homeless children also experience more mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, and withdrawal. They are twice as likely to experience hunger, and four times as likely to have delayed development. These illnesses have potentially devastating consequences if not treated early.

Caton also states that a deep poverty and housing instability are especially harmful during the earliest years of childhood; alarmingly, it is estimated that almost half of children in shelter are under the age of five. School-age homeless children face barriers to enrolling and attending school, including transportation problems, residency requirements, inability to obtain previous school records, and lack of clothing and school supplies(Feb. 1990).

Parents also suffer the ill effects of homelessness and poverty. One study of homeless and low-income housed families found that both groups experienced higher rates of depressive disorders than the overall female population, and that one-third of homeless mothers (compared to one-fourth of poor housed mothers) had made at least one suicide attempt (Koch, 2009). In both groups, over one-third of the sample had a chronic health condition.

According to Shaft, a former case manager for Children and Family Services homelessness frequently breaks up families. Families may be separated as a result of shelter policies which deny access to older boys or fathers. Separations may also be caused by placement of children into foster care when their parents become homeless. In addition, parents may leave their children with relatives and friends in order to save them from the ordeal of homelessness or to permit them to continue attending their regular school. The break-up of families is a well-documented phenomenon: in 56% of the 27 cities surveyed in 2003, homeless families had to break up in order to enter emergency shelters (Shaft, 2003).

Not being able to afford adequate housing does not mean that a family is completely without a source of income. Almost one out of every five homeless family is employed. The connection between being an impoverished worker and the homeless can be seen in the homeless shelters, which house a great number of full-time wage earners. In this decreasing economy, job stability and job security have deteriorated.

Displaced workers face difficulty finding new jobs. When they do find work, their job will pay on an average of thirteen percent less than the job they may have lost. More than one-fourth