Who's unhoused in California? Largest study in decades upends myths

[usonian]

Most unhoused people are from in state and desire to find housing, while Black and older people are disproportionately affected
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/20/california-affordable-housing-crisis-homelessness-study-myths-older-black-residents

Emphasis mine.

Nearly half of all unhoused adults in California are over the age of 50, with Black residents dramatically overrepresented, according to the largest study of the state’s homeless population in decades.

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) research released on Tuesday also revealed that 90% of the population lost their housing in California, with 75% of them now living in the same county where they were last housed. The study further found that nearly nine out of 10 people reported that the cost of housing was the main barrier to leaving homelessness.

The research from UCSF’s Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, based on a representative survey of nearly 3,200 unhoused people, contradicts several persistent myths about the population, including that most unhoused people come from out of state to take advantage of services, as well as stereotypes that homeless people are mostly young adults who prefer to live outside and don’t want help.

“People are homeless because their rent is too high. And their options are too few. And they have no cushion,” Dr Margot Kushel, initiative director and lead investigator, told the Associated Press. “And it really makes you wonder how different things would look if we could solve that underlying problem.”

The full UCSF report is here https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/CASPEH_Report_62023.pdf (3.5MB PDF)

There are 8 more paragraphs of summary at the Guardian site if you don't want to download the full report.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Another problem is that it's better to squat in California than it is to move to some cheaper

shithole red state.

[jimfields33]

4. California is the 5th economy of the world.

Number 1 in the country. There should not be unhoused at all. I don’t even begin to understand how there could be in this state of all of them.

[Higherarky]

10. Priorities

[littlemissmartypants]

2. ❤️

[Demobrat]

3. Even if people wanted to move somewhere cheaper

it’s not that simple. Moving is expensive. And if you’re not familiar with an area there’s no way to know if it will work for you.

Are people supposed to just drive until they end up somewhere affordable? In what vehicle? With what gas money?

[usonian]

11. That brought up memories of Grapes of Wrath

But going to California "lured" by jobs.
Talk about the rich exploiting the poor. I'll comment below on that matter.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. I used to volunteer at a local

(Santa Fe, NM) homeless shelter before the Pandemic. It was eye-opening. I realize things may be different since the Pandemic, and may be different in California, but it was clear to me, at my shelter, that a significant number of those there were mentally ill. Not all. Also, some were clearly long-term homeless, others temporary.

I have been relatively poor at various times in my life, but never even close to being homeless. I always had the money for rent, even if I had to cut back on the food budget, couldn't buy new clothes for a while.

[hay rick]

6. The underlying problem is looting by the rich.

Our economy has the capacity to produce a humane baseline of income and shelter for everyone without requiring meaningful sacrifice from anyone. Our problem is cultural. Americans have been conditioned to passively accept the infliction of avoidable poverty and misery on millions of fellow citizens as unavoidable.

[jaxexpat]

8. Right you are, rick.

How do you hink it would effect a society 's bumanity if they had been brainwashed to accept the possibility of personal economic disaster which destroys ones place in society, in life, as a logical consequence of "the capitalistic system" in action. I think people would get pretty calous and uncaring for the fate of their "competitors". The "losers" would become invisible to the broad spectrum of those brainwashed. The pity and passion part of Christianity would lose its ability to temper the hearts and minds of most.

[usonian]

13. Amen to that.

In my book, hoarding wealth reflects a low life state ---
Since money, beyond some basic needs, is purely symbolic, it's a chase to have more than the other person, but there's always someone with more, so it's insatiable.

Of course, that's entirely wrong and we have the opposite of a compassionate society.

I'm reflecting works by David Loy, in particular "Money, Sex, War and Karma".

I'll save any more comments for the Buddhist group.

𑁍

[DBoon]

14. What do you think drives the high cost of rentals?

The very wealthy looking for investments. What could be a better investment than something essential like housing?

Lots of capital looking for a place, driving up the price of real estate. That price must be paid for with rising rents.

[Farmer-Rick]

7. If we had bailed-out homeowners in the 2008 crash

Instead of the filthy rich bankers, we would have far fewer homeless. Around here in the boondocks, there are many abandoned houses that once housed many middle income families and oly house rats and bats now

But the houses were left to rot and fall apart after the bankers forced out the families. Now, only the land is worth anything and the banks never made anything by forcing the families out into the streets.

It makes no sense.

[leftstreet]

9. +1

[SunSeeker]

12. The reason is obvious: Median income of homeless is $960/mo.; median CA rent is $2,895

That study's researchers found that more than 171,000 people experience homelessness daily in California. CA represents about 12% of the nation’s population, has 30% of the country’s homeless population and nearly half of its unsheltered population, according to the report. Before becoming homeless, many respondents said they received a median monthly income of $960, while the median rent in California is $2,895, according to data from Zillow Rental Manager. The report also found that the median age of people experiencing homelessness is 47, a disproportionate amount of people experiencing homelessness identify as Black, Native American, or Latino and about 90% of respondents became homeless while living in California.

[hunter]

15. If there was plentiful housing for all then rents would fall...

... and that would be catastrophic for certain people.

Not as catastrophic as it is to be homeless, however.

In the Star Trek Universe all you have to do is show up and they give you a comfortable enough apartment that's yours to keep as long as you like, so long as you don't bother your neighbors and are not a danger to yourself or others.

We could have that too if we pulled our heads out of our asses.

People talk about homelessness like it's an unsolvable problem, like we don't know how to build homes, create meaningful occupations, or treat mental illness. We do. But in our avarice we do not.

The "no free lunch crowd" can go to hell.

Normal people want to contribute to society and make the world a better place. They don't get their jollies by groping up whatever wealth they can at the expense of others.

[flamingdem]

16. Not the case in Santa Monica and Venice

There the population of homeless is younger and includes many who are addicted to drugs and from out of state.

Different surveys get different facts!