ABC News: US homelessness up 18% as affordable housing remains out of reach for many people

[Dennis Donovan]

ABC News - US homelessness up 18% as affordable housing remains out of reach for many people

Federal officials say the United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press
December 27, 2024, 11:52 AM

The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said federally required tallies taken across the country in January found that more than 770,000 people were counted as homeless — a number that misses some people and does not include those staying with friends or family because they do not have a place of their own.

That increase comes on top of a 12% increase in 2023, which HUD blamed on soaring rents and the end of pandemic assistance. The 2023 increase also was driven by people experiencing homelessness for the first time. The numbers overall represent 23 of every 10,000 people in the U.S., with Black people being overrepresented among the homeless population.

“No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring every family has access to the affordable, safe, and quality housing they deserve,” HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman said in a statement, adding that the focus should remain on “evidence-based efforts to prevent and end homelessness.”

Among the most concerning trends was a nearly 40% rise in family homelessness — one of the areas that was most affected by the arrival of migrants in big cities. Family homelessness more than doubled in 13 communities impacted by migrants including Denver, Chicago and New York City, according to HUD, while it rose less than 8% in the remaining 373 communities. Nearly 150,000 children experienced homelessness on a single night in 2024, reflecting a 33% jump from last year.

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[hlthe2b]

1. What will it be after a year or two of Trump? 38%? Higher?

Well, not to worry. He may well have us in a third World War by then. So, maybe we can all sleep at the 24/7 munitions plants.

[JI7]

2. We need to come up with serious proposals to deal with this

Usually housing is a local or state issue. But there might need to be some federsl laws also.

Maybe require people must live in some homes that are available for purchase to prevent it from being another investment for rent. Do something about the NIMBYs that prevent new housing being made. Convert empty buildings such as malls and office spaces into apartments. These can have restrictions like no cooking and only something like microwave being what you can have to heat up food. But they could be good for young people or people that travel a lot or many others becsuse they will be cheaper options.

[milestogo]

3. Everyone is asking for affordable housing, but everything I see being built is "luxury" housing.

Funny how that works.

[travelingthrulife]

4. They never blame the speculators and house flippers. They are the ones who have

escalated the cost of housing.
Blaming migrant surges? seems unlikely.

[standingtall]

5. This will not get in better over they next 4 years

Democrats made a mistake in capitulating to Republican policies like vouchers and allowing traditional public housing or as some call it section 9 to be decimated. Voucher are not bad by themselves, but when they are used as means to replace traditional public housing it's a problem. They are not designed to accommodate nearly as many low income people as traditional public housing. Only 25% of people eligible for vouchers even receive one. Of course there are other reasons why homelessness has spiked in America, but for me the biggest one is the loss of public housing stock. Public housing stock peaked in 1994 and if we had public housing stock at 1994 levels and just put 1 person in each unit that would be enough to house about 2/3rds of the estimated homeless population today. Instead we have far fewer today, when should have more to keep up with the increased population. Until the federal Government and State Governments start doing what they use to do and bring back public housing stock, then they are not serious about addressing the homelessness issue. Anything else they do is just window dressing.