The Homeless—A World Problem
THE problem of housing shortage and homelessness, however, knows no national boundaries; it is by no means limited to the poor, developing nations. The great capitals and metropolises of the developed world, almost without exception, also have their skid rows and slums. Along with the sparkling skyscrapers and modern high rises, there are the ghettos and decaying inner cities. What is life like in such places?
Commenting on a study conducted in Chicago, the magazine Science reports that the homeless there are “characterized by extreme poverty and isolation and high rates of dysfunction. Four out of five had been institutionalized in jails, mental hospitals, or for drug detoxification.”
Most U.S. cities have some public facilities for the homeless. New York City, for example, places single homeless people in public shelters and families in welfare hotels. It was expected that when winter came, 12,200 singles and 20,500 family members would be seeking help, and the authorities were hoping that somehow enough space would be available to house them.
What life is like in such places is quite another matter. The overnight public shelters in New York are usually converted gymnasiums or armories. Hundreds of people sleep in rows of beds in one large open space. Some street people refuse to go to the shelters. “The shelters are unsafe, and often they have bedbugs or lice,” said one unfortunate. “You sleep there with your eyes open.” Life is especially hard for children. “In the barracks-like shelters and cramped hotels that the city eventually sends them to, the children are exposed to a brutal array of problems—disease, dysfunction, drugs, delinquency and despair,” reports the New York Daily News. “These children are in danger of becoming a lost generation.”
Because of the transient nature of homeless people, accurate figures are often difficult to come by. The National Coalition for the Homeless maintains that the number of homeless people in the United States is between two and three million. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, on the other hand, reports that “as best as can be determined from all available data, the most reliable range is 250,000 to 350,000 homeless persons.” Whatever the actual number of the homeless, however, everyone agrees it is growing.
“A Scourge of Our Time”
Countries in the European Community are also faced with serious housing problems. The Times of London reports that in the United Kingdom “the number of people living in bed-and-breakfast accommodation increased from 49,000 to 160,000 between 1979-84, there are 1 1/4 million people on council waiting lists and one million homes officially classified as unfit for human habitation.”
Across the English Channel, “in Paris, private groups say at least 10,000 people are living on the streets,” according to an article in The New York Times entitled “The Homeless of Europe: A Scourge of Our Time.” The Italian government estimates that 20 percent of newlyweds “have no alternative but to live with relatives, even after the birth of their first child.” Among the estimated 20,000 homeless Danes, “the number who are less than 30 years old has increased dramatically since 1980.”
Ironically, all of this is occurring, according to Peter Sutherland, Commissioner of Social Affairs for the European Communities Commission, just as these nations “had begun to believe that [they] were in sight of abolishing for good the scourges of poverty and homelessness.”
An Alarming Trend
In recent years, however, authorities dealing with the homeless have noted a new trend. The New York Times quoted a member of the Coalition for the Homeless in Chicago as saying: “We’re seeing the trend of needs change drastically from just ‘the poor’ to ‘middle class suddenly poor.’ They lose their jobs, their credit cards and their mortgage. It’s definitely not your stereotypical wino in the alley anymore.”
Similarly, the director of a social service agency in Connecticut observed: “Unfortunately, there is a misconception about who homeless people are. It’s not the bag person who drifts from one city to the next. It’s actually families who can’t afford to rent anymore because of high rents, lack of jobs, divorces.” According to a report released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors last May, a survey of 29 major cities revealed that families with children made up over one third of the homeless, and that was a 31-percent increase over the previous year.
Perplexing Questions
Although the severity of the housing shortage and homeless problem varies from country to country and from place to place, it is safe to say that there are few people today who are totally unaware of it or completely unaffected by it. And what is most perplexing is that in spite of the efforts and funds expended by the governments, there is no sign that the problem is abating. Why is this so? Where do all the homeless people come from? And, above all, what hope is there for solving the housing problem?