Homelessness
In modern times, the level of homelessness continues to rise in our country. As per The Council of Economic Advisers (2019), the number of homelessness in the U.S stands at 552,830. In a single night, 35% of the homeless population spends their night on unsheltered places that are not intended for human habitations such as parks, cars, and abandoned buildings. Over 350 000 sheltered homeless persons are found in emergency shelters and also in transitional housing programs. The living standards continue to rise to the extent a high number of people experience desperate situations and extreme difficulties. With the number of homelessness increasing every day, it remains significant to reflect its causes in modern society.
Zaveri (2020) has reflected on the issue of homelessness in the U.S and associated drug abuse as a critical factor in the U.S that heavily affects our society. Many children are homeless as a result of the parents being heavily affected by drugs. Drugs such as Opioids have halted family life where the level of irresponsibility continues to rise. Children have to look for alternatives when parents cannot guarantee basic needs provisions. It was established that 1.5 million public school students countrywide at one point had experienced homelessness. Parents have failed to live up to the expectations of our society as drugs result in domestic violence. With domestic violence and divorce affecting our society, students at some point find it difficult to have adequate funds to sustain their lifestyles on campus.
The level of inequality in our country is a factor that has resulted in homelessness witnessed by Americans today. The government needs to put measures that can improve the livelihood of all the people across the country. With high living standards, some people cannot afford some of the basic needs. For instance, the levels of unemployment continue to increase in our country, with many companies favoring immigrants as opposed to natives. The immigrants are willing to work under low wages, a factor that corporations highly acknowledge. It means unemployment subjects people to poverty where some cannot afford to rent a house or even buy one. Sutherland (2015) highlights the issue of poverty and how it affects students’ lives. When parents cannot raise adequate funds through employment or businesses, their children find it difficult to survive in school. Moreover, they spend a night outside since they cannot afford a house. The narrator reflects how she managed to stay in school without paying by just adjusting and living like a normal student irrespective of the hard times back home. The issue of being evicted for failing to pay resulted in spending nights outside. Thus, the inequality that exists in the country facilitates homelessness.
The level of racial inequality is also a factor that has affected the homelessness in our country. Some races find it difficult to acquire jobs due to stereotypes that exist in our society. Corporation aims remain to maximize profit and minimize cost, and thus they remain focused on putting together a competitive team that can propel realization of the set goals. In this consideration, stereotypes come to play with some races associated with a negative attitude and unmanageable, leading to their ineffectiveness in the long-run. Thus, organizations are yet to embrace individual competencies and personality when recruiting. It subjects many people jobless irrespective of their qualifications. In some instances, natives are not preferred due to their stubbornness in terms of involving labor unions for high wages resulting in corporations recruiting immigrants as casual laborers.
When looking at homelessness from a different perspective, people can be blamed for their situations. Many people are not committed to improving their situation, evidenced by educated and employed people who are homeless. It requires an effort for an individual to live a better life in a country like the U.S. A high percentage of the homeless in the U.S have increased due to the increasing number of immigrants who do not have the required education to get a job. They find it hard to cope with the situation in a foreign country where they do not have a family who can support them before they could secure a job. In other cases, people have failed to plan or prioritize the importance of basic needs such as shelter, subjecting them into alcoholism, thereby spending all to the extent they have to spend nights in the cold. Alcohol has been integrated into our society, and it has reached a point many people from young to old cannot control their drinking. Thus, people are to blame for their situation at the moment since only a few have fully tried to improve their situations, specifically the natives, and it has failed to work.
Conclusion
Homelessness is an issue that requires attention at the moment, with a high number of people spending their night outside. It demonstrates the inability to cope with current living standards in the country that worsens as unemployment heightens. Moreover, the issue of illegal immigrants needs to be reflected in an attempt to deal with this menace in our society. Immigrants are facing difficulties in coping with America, subjecting them to homelessness. They need to find jobs for them to survive, but with the economic situation affecting businesses and organizations, it remains difficult for an individual to secure employment.