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How Many People Experience Homelessness In The United States?

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How Many People Experience Homelessness In The United States?
Homelessness in the Unites States

1. The extent of homelessness

Homelessness is a serious problem in the United States. Present statistics estimate that approximately 3.5 million people, of which 1.35 million are children, are likely to be homeless in any given year. (How Many People Experience Homelessness?) Studies have also established that “…1% of the U.S. population experiences homelessness each year…” (How Many People Experience Homelessness?) Furthermore the figures also indicate that the incidence of homelessness is on the increase in America with homelessness rates tripling between 1981 and 1989. More recently The National Law Center for Homelessness and Poverty reports that over 3 million men, women, and children were homeless over the past year. (Homeless.org)
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The solution to homelessness, according to many experts, lies in the paying attention to the main cause of this social phenomenon. This includes dealing with the economic root of the problem by upgrading low wages and dealing with the important issue of affordable housing. It has also been suggested that project such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families be refurbished and improved. Another point of view is that homelessness is part of larger problem which has to do with the way the social system in the country works. “Ending homelessness does not mean fixing broken people. It means fixing a broken system.” ( Homelessness & Poverty) This view tends to se the root cause and the solutions to the problem as one which demands an integrated assessment of the entire social, health-care and housing system in the United

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