Rising Rents Propel Homelessness: U.S. Sees 12% Surge in Homeless Population

Due to rising rents, the number of homeless people in the US has reached a record high. (Photo: CNN)

The Upward Spiral: Soaring Rents and Record High Homelessness

In a shocking turn of events, the number of homeless people in the US has increased by 12%, setting a new record high. The disturbing rise is mostly due to rising rents and less cash aid for people affected by the pandemic, which have made housing impossible for more and more Americans.

According to government officials, there were about 653,000 people who were homeless in January. This is the highest number of homeless people since the annual point-in-time survey began in 2007. In comparison to the 2022 count, this huge number shows a rise of about 70,650 homeless people.

According to the most recent estimate, a lot of people were facing homelessness for the first time. This meant that the downward trend in family homelessness that began in 2012 had come to an end. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge stressed how important it is to support tried-and-true methods and solutions that help people quickly get off the streets and, more importantly, keep them from ever being homeless in the first place.

Until recently, the U.S. had been slowly lowering the number of homeless people, mostly by focusing on making it easier for veterans to find housing. Unfortunately, the numbers went in the wrong direction and went from about 637,000 in 2010 to about 554,000 in 2017, and then to about 580,000 when the 2020 count was done. This worrying trend stayed mostly the same after 2020 because of the government’s reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included emergency rental assistance, stimulus payments, help for states and local governments, and a temporary ban on evictions.

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Urgent Call to Action: Addressing the Escalating Homelessness Crisis

Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, said that there are many reasons why people are homeless, but the main ones are the high cost of housing and the lack of affordable homes. This forces many Americans to live from paycheck to paycheck, putting them one crisis away from being homeless.

Also, the rise in homelessness looked different for different groups: it was almost 11% higher for people, 7.4% higher for veterans, and a scary 15.5% higher for families with children. There are 37% of homeless people in the U.S. who are black, even though they only make up 13% of the population. This is a troubling fact. It’s also scary that more than a quarter of homeless people were older than 54.

This upsetting discovery shows that we need strong plans and a lot of help right away to stop the rising number of homeless people in the US. We need to act quickly and decisively.

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