Homelessness in the United States
The homeless population in the United States is far from invisible. It is impossible to walk down a street in any city without encountering someone sleeping in a doorway, pushing a shopping cart filled with personal belongings, or approaching a passerby for money. The homeless are no longer the skid-row white males roaming the countryside by hitching rides on freight trains and working for handout meals. Today, the faces of the homeless are a myriad of ages, genders, and races.
Homelessness is inextricably linked to poverty. The poor are not able to afford housing, health care, education, food and often child care (National pg). Because housing constitutes such a large portion of income, many are forced to drop that expense in order to simply supply the necessities of existence, such a food, clothing, and health care. Unfortunately, homelessness is simply a paycheck or illness away for the many of the population (National pg). According to a 2000 report, 31.1 million people or 11.3% of the U.S. population live in poverty, with 39% living on less than half the poverty level of incomes and over forty percent of that population being children (National pg).
Due to the declining skid row population and declining poverty rates, the urban renewal efforts of the 1960's and 1970's led to the typical skid row housing being torn down (Wasson 212). This optimism led many to believe that homelessness was a problem of the past, however, today, the homeless population has never been greater since the Great Depression (Wasson 212). Declining wages and job opportunities during the last two decades have made affordable housing impossible for many which now requires more than minimum wage for a simple one or two bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent (National pg). In fact, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition in 2001, a minimum-wage worker has to work 89 hours per week to afford a two-bedroom apartment, at the federal definition...
" How many people are homeless? The number of homeless is difficult to ascertain because estimates vary depending on the methodology used. Numbers also vary substantially depending on whether a measurement is taken on a single night or is extrapolated to a given year. One approximation of the annual number of homeless in America is from a study done by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which estimates between 2.3 and
This is exacerbated by the "...growing gap between wage earnings and the cost of housing in the United States which leaves millions of families and individuals unable to make ends meet." (Homelessness in the United States) Low Incomes and minimum wage workers also add to the problem. A further cause of the high levels of homelessness is the cuts in programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Policy change
Crime is not the only issue where homelessness is concerned, however, and homelessness in and of itself can be very difficult for someone to deal with, especially if the homelessness was unexpected or there are many familial obligations that suddenly will not be met (such as in the case of a single mother, for example). When homelessness occurs this way and causes these kinds of problems, there can be very
In this case, it may be seen that the Patriot Act does not protect all citizens. It can be used to violate basic human right. Use of National Security Letters. The use of National Security Letters where the government asks private agencies (media, banks, etc.) for private information and give a NSL, wherein said agency cannot divulge the fact that they had given the said information, has also been rampant.
Al., 2010). Nursing and the ER The Emergency Room is often one of the most visible parts of healthcare for political debate. It is also one of the most difficult environments for a modern nurse. It is interesting that one of the founders of modern nursing had emergency experience prior to developing her overall theories. Nightingale also looked at negatives and positives that are the conditions, which could help make people recover
Homelessness in the United States has been a growing social concern. It has also become clear that measures to deal with the problem have not been significantly effective. Specifically vulnerable to this problem are women, often the sole care takers of young children. The problem then imprints itself not only on the unemployed, but also upon those who depend upon these individuals for their livelihood. Homelessness then becomes a vicious
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