Homeless In America

7 Pages 1735 Words

Homelessness In America
The Stewart McKinney Act of 1987 defines a homeless person as Aone who
lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence, or whose nighttime residence is
a temporary shelter, welfare hotel or any public or private place not
designated as sleeping accommodations for human beings. Included in the
homeless population are people who stay with friends or family for a short
period of time and then decide to find shelter on the streets because of
conflict with the people whom they are staying with, or because of personal
pride.
In the early 1980s homelessness was determined to be a major problem in the
United States. These years saw a steep rise in the number of homeless, due
to poor economy and diminishing financial help for housing and income. The
homeless consist of all types, races, and ages of people. A large portion of
the homeless population consists of men but the number of women and
children living on the streets is on the rise. Current statistics show that
women and children now make up around forty percent of the homeless
population. According to John J. Macionis one third of homeless people
abuse drugs and one fourth are mentally ill. The current homeless population
is mostly non-white and has an average age of the middle thirties. Veterans
make up about one-third of the total number of homeless men. The homeless
all suffer from absolute poverty. As stated in 1995 by the United States
government, 36 million people or 13.8% of the population was poor. The
government defines a family of four as being poor if they generate a yearly
income of $15,569 or less, although the average improvised families income
was only around $10,000 in 1995. The Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics
states, the average annual income of the homeless in Chicago was $1198 in
1996.
Perhaps we should not be surprised that one percent of our population, for
one reason or another is unable to cope...