Homelessness & Lack of Affordable Housing. Literature & Language Essay

Homelessness & Lack of Affordable Housing
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Homelessness & Lack of Affordable Housing
Introduction
The lack of one of the basic human needs, shelter, is on the rise in the United States and other countries around the world across the economic divide. A majority of people are becoming homeless in Western countries at an alarming rate owing to a wide range of factors arising from the social, political, and economic aspects of society. The rising number of people without a place to call home is raising concerns among governments from the developed, developing, and third world countries. The highly competitive global economy accounts for one of the primary factors contributing to the worsening situation of homelessness across the globe. The housing and real estate industry of the global economy, for instance, makes for one of the most lucrative industries around the world. Such trends lead to increased cost of housing in major cities, which leads to increased evictions due to unaffordability of the housing units available for individuals living in such urban centers. Los Angeles County provides an excellent platform for the analysis of the primary factors contributing to the rising cases of homelessness in the United States. The lack of affordable housing, inadequate public assistance, and the breakdown of the family are the three main causes of homelessness in the United States and around the world.
Homelessness
It is, however, important to understand the meaning of homelessness or the state of being homeless to establish the scope or extent of the problem in the United States and around the world. Homelessness refers to different types of situations describing the circumstances behind the lack of a shelter or home for an individual. According to the United Nations’ Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH), a homeless person may fall into three different categories defined by equally unique features CITATION Lou19 \l 1033 (Louise, 2019). A homeless person or homelessness, for that matter, states the institute is the lack accommodation characterized by lack of a legal claim or title to occupy a given house or shelter. The outlined situation may be a result of eviction due to unpaid rent arrears or inability to meet the same. Examples of individuals without accommodation include people of sleep on the streets or pavements or those who sleep in their cars, the railway stations, as well as unoccupied buildings CITATION Lou19 \l 1033 (Louise, 2019). Individuals living or occupying temporary accommodations lacking in important features such as protection from hostile weather conditions, theft of personal effects, as well as lack of basic housing amenities such as running water CITATION Lou19 \l 1033 (Louise, 2019). Such temporary accommodations are also characteristic of overcrowding from the high number of homeless individuals seeking such shelters. The internally displaced individuals who spend their time in makeshift camps, as well as those who spend in night shelters, form excellent examples of persons living in temporary accommodations. Another type of homelessness describes the lack of positive social interactions and integration within one’s dwelling, which are also characteristic of insecurity against one’s personal effects from other inhabitants of the same dwelling place or shelter CITATION Lou19 \l 1033 (Louise, 2019). A person who seeks accommodation from their friends and relatives on temporary terms, as well as those who pay for the same in affordable hotels, motels, or bed and breakfast, fall into the category of homelessness defined by the lack of social interactions and security for personal belongings. It is within the outlined parameters that one can make an elaborate analysis of the looming crisis of homelessness and rising cost of housing that threatens to throw more Americans into the state of desolation. In 2015, for instance, approximately 500,000 people spent their nights out in the cold, sought refuge in emergency or night shelters, or slept in temporary accommodations from friends or family members in the United States CITATION Cam17 \l 1033 (University, 2017). The situation has since escalated as a result of the skyrocketing housing prices, the breakdown of family structures, and government’s inability to provide adequate public housing for its citizens. The Los Angeles County makes for one of the worst-hit counties in the United States with housing prices on the roof and the financial institutions choking the region with massive and ruthless crackdowns on mortgage defaulters. Los Angeles thus provides a framework for the analysis of the worrying trend affecting millions of Americans and threatening to put a big percentage of the same out of the comfort of their homes into the harsh conditions of the streets and other makeshift accommodations.
Homelessness in Los Angeles County
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) recently made shocking revelations of the number of homeless people in the county during a presentation to the County’s Board of Supervisors. According to LAHSA, the rate of homelessness increased by 12% from 2018 to 2019 as it rose from 52,765 to 58,936, with the numbers expected to rise despite the interventional measures put in place by the count to curb the crisis facing the region CITATION Lam19 \l 1033 (Lam, 2019). The Los Angeles County’s government has put measures in place to deal with the crisis of homelessness affecting the region in an attempt to prevent the massive exodus of its inhabitants who find the rising cost of living in the region to be unbearable. The efforts were, for instance, responsible for the provision of approximately 21,600 houses to homeless individuals around the region in 2018 CITATION Lam19 \l 1033 (Lam, 2019). In an ideal situation such an achievement would be hailed for its nobility and even adopted as a model framework for its efficacy in dealing with the crisis of homelessness across the United States. However, the remarkable performance of the interventional measure adopted by LA County’s government only accounted for 40% of the total population affected by the scourge of homelessness in the region CITATION Lam19 \l 1033 (Lam, 2019). Additionally, as the number of homeless people decreased by over 21,000, thanks to the increased housing placements in Los Angeles, a majority of individuals face the pending threat of homelessness CITATION Lam19 \l 1033 (Lam, 2019). The same survey presented by LAHSA indicated that the regions currently experience a 12% increase the rate of homelessness as a result of the tough economic times, rising cost of living in Los Angeles, and unfair economic differences between the rich and poor. Individuals experiencing homelessness for the first time in Los Angeles account for 23% of the population of homeless individuals in the region, with the tough economic times being the primary reason for the worrying trend CITATION Gor19 \l 1033 (Gorman, 2019).
Causes of Homelessness
Despite the County’s remarkable efforts towards eradicating homelessness in the region, the crisis still threatens to take hostage of more inhabitants. The following factors account for the rising cases of homelessness in Los Angeles County and other major cities in the United States;
* Lack of Affordable Housing
The LAHSA presentation to the LA County’s Supervisory Board in 2019 puts homelessness in the region to be on the rise despite interventional measures recording remarkable improvements in reducing the number of homeless individuals from the streets. An increased rate of 12% recorded in 2019 alone is a cause for concern for the local government and calls for a review of the situation or rather the primary factors contributing to the worrying trend CITATION Lam19 \l 1033 (Lam, 2019...