Exposing Poverty

American Homeless and Poverty Issues

There is a dilemma in our country it affects all of society it is called homelessness. Each night in America there is over "500,000 families are sleeping in shelters, hotels and in the streets and over the course of a year 3.5 million will experience homelessness". (National Collation for the Homeless) It is hard to get an accurate number on the homeless population, due to the fact that the census bureau does not track it, but "there was a survey of 24 cities homeless shelters last year and out of all the emergency service requested by the homeless 14% percent of the homeless needs went unmet". (National Collation for the Homeless) Why are there so many Americans experiencing homelessness? There are a multitude of reasons for people to be or become homeless such as unemployment, domestic violence, drug abuse, mental illness, inadequate income, the rising cost of living and healthcare. All of these issues are linked to poverty. "It is estimated that 13.3% of Americans lived below the national poverty line in the last 12 months". (The U.S. Census Bureau)

Why is that in a society where the government claims the economy is strong and continues to grow are there homeless people sleeping in the cities streets and shelters? Who are these people that make up the homeless population? People who are poor or are living below the national poverty line simply cannot afford the basic needs and sustain a decent place to live. The cost of living is rising, when wages are at a standstill, there could possibly be more homeless people looking for shelter if it was not for the help of friends or family members. There are people from all walks of life that are homeless you have the elderly, the mentally ill, drug addicts, disabled veterans and recently they have found that there is a growing number of single parent families living in the street.

There are more and more parents abandoning their families and/or children and is not providing some monetary help to pay for expenses or the child's needs. This leaves the other parents holding the bag trying to make ends meet and at times forcing them into the welfare system. People on welfare are known to become dependent upon it after being on it for an extended period of time; this does not in fact help those people overcome poverty but basically keeps them at their same financial status. With harden attitudes and changing welfare laws that are suppose to help the poor, some are forced into work with little or no job skills while there is a steady decline in the number of unskilled jobs customarily filled by impoverished people. The majority of former welfare recipients are also more likely to get a job without healthcare benefits making it impossible to afford the medical needs of their families without the need of some government assistants, such as Medicaid. There are other factors of homelessness that are considered to be minor factors but are factors all the same such as domestic violence. Many women have to choose between being abused and being homelessness. Most of these women don't have not family or a safe place to turn to and usually end up in a shelter and often need the help of the government to help with the needs of themselves and their children.

People that are homeless with drug addiction problems or are mentally ill are not homeless because they are drug addicts or mentally ill but because they can not afford the treatment that they need because of their condition or addition. Most drug addicts come into financial troubles due to there addictions and end up losing everything they have, eventually ending up on the streets because of money issues. The hardest thing for a drug addicts is to get off the streets once they're on them. Most family members turn their backs on these individuals are very reluctant to help because of the situation

they are in or because of the hardship of having to deal with an addict. Since so much of their money goes to drugs, most drug addicts will never overcome their addictions and get out of poverty without substantial help. Mental illness is also an issue that is causing homelessness. "Approximately 600,000 of the homeless population are suffering from a severe mental illness". (The National Mental Health Association) The majority of the mentally ill will find community programs and housing to help their with their conditions but others are trapped in this lifestyle and are too ill to know that they need to seek help or that there is help available. "Veterans are among the majority of the mentally ill homeless population due to lack of support from there communities. About 45% of homeless veterans suffer from mental illness and (with considerable overlap) slightly more than 70% suffer from alcohol or other drug abuse problems. Roughly 56% of homeless veterans are African American or Hispanic." (National Collation for Homeless Veterans)

Cross-Cultural Examination of Poverty

The poverty in Africa is caused by one major reason which is different from the many reasons in America. But the reason has many of the same effects on the impoverished as in America which is homelessness and suffering. Although Africa's poor are suffering more so than the poor in America comparing their poverty levels to our own is complex due to foreign countries have different currencies, income levels, consumption and prices for goods and services. Different countries also have a different criterion for setting income thresholds that define poverty; as a result international poverty studies use a relative measure as a basis for comparison. "The one commonly used is the one dollar a day standard was chosen for the World Bank's World Development Report 2006" (7).

Africa is one of the world richest continents when it comes to resources but the people living there is among the poorest in the world. The main reason for poverty and homelessness in Africa is HIV/AIDS, "other reasons are widespread illiteracy, drought, malaria, civil war, government corruption and a lack of infrastructure". (Katel 2005) Aids is killing many of Africa's people leaving children to fend for themselves, unlike in America where if the children are orphaned they are likely to become wards of the state. These children often go on to live with their Grand-Parents which are often poor and barely able to take care of themselves. Children which have no elders to see after them are "forced to leave school to take care of their younger siblings often only making enough to eat one meal a day" (Ketal 2005), they themselves not likely to eat even eat a meal everyday. Poor children In America do not suffer