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According to a University of California San Francisco study, nearly one-third of the homeless population in the United States resides in California. The primary reason Californians say they end up homeless is the loss of income. Most of them say that a modest subsidy of $300 per month could have prevented them from becoming homeless.
To tackle the crisis, Straight Arrow News contributor Jordan Reid argues that California’s first priority should be addressing the shortage of affordable housing for low-income and unsheltered residents.
There are not enough homes. There are certainly not enough low-income homes. See, when new housing is not being constructed at a level that fits the demand, what happens is that the high-income residents take over the more affordable units, bidding up the prices. Middle-income workers, then they take over the lowest price units, again bidding up the prices, and low-income people are left with virtually no options at all.
For many workers, especially those who have found themselves experiencing homelessness due to an abrupt disruption in their finances, it is simply not possible to accumulate the funds required to pay for a deposit on an apartment. In California, even a studio apartment can easily go for $1,500 a month easily. And even these so-called affordable units are often located in areas that are far removed from access to jobs, public transportation, childcare.
