The Homeless

THE HOMELESS

Every year in January there is a count of the homeless in the US. Most experts think there is an undercount due to homeless people hiding themselves in inaccessible locations, but the yearly count is the best figure we have. The number for January 2024 has been released: it is 771,000, an increase of 18% over January 2023. This is close to the total population of North Dakota.

Why are there homeless people? One third struggle with drug addiction or mental illness. Then there are the asylum seekers. But perhaps the biggest factor is the lack of affordable housing. Moody’s Analytics estimates the US housing shortage at 2.9 million units. We used to have US government-assisted housing programs. It is time to fund them again. The present situation is disgraceful.

Source: The Economist,1/4/25