Conor here: The following article by Fran Quigley, director of the Health and Human Rights Clinic at Indiana University McKinney School of Law, provides a first-hand account of the fight to avoid homelessness. These reflect previous studies such as: report A University of California, San Francisco, report released last year, the largest representative study of homelessness in the state in 30 years, found that, unsurprisingly, low wages, sudden and unpayable expenses, Economic factors, including high prices, were found to be the main driver of homelessness. Housing costs.
The first step to moving the issue forward, according to most experts on the issue, is to prevent people from losing their homes. Quigley offers a simple solution: give them money. Why not?
Plutocratic governments certainly have no problem shelling out money if the issue is important to them.
Rebecca Liddell, head of economic justice policy at Oxfam America, said: said Newsweek:
“Persistent poverty in the United States is really about policy choices,” she says. “The choices that have been made regarding taxes, social safety nets, corporate power, and public services were not designed to end poverty and hardship, and in many ways have contributed to soaring inequality. Ta.”
Written by Fran Quigley Director of the Health and Human Rights Clinic at Indiana University McKinney School of Law. It was first published in common dreams.
Katrina is the mother of three children, one of whom has a severe disability, requiring Katrina to spend most of her time as a caregiver. Katrina was already struggling to make ends meet, but an unexpected car repair and reduced work hours caused her to fall behind on her rent.
Darren was injured at work and lost six weeks’ pay. Now, he’s trying to work as many hours as his employer will give him, but he’s only getting paid about $17 an hour. Darren shares custody of two young children, ages 3 and 9 months, and is struggling desperately to recoup missed rent payments.
Sheila’s husband was arrested and jailed for violently abusing her. Once safe, Sheila returned to work as a retail manager. But she still has to pay several months’ worth of past due rent, as well as late fees and court costs. Sheila will have to move within this month because we won’t be able to work together. She keeps most of her possessions in storage. She’s also stuffing some clothes into garbage bags to take to her new home, a friend’s unheated garage with no access to plumbing.
I teach at a law school clinic in Indianapolis where my students and I represent Katrina, Darren, Sheila, and other clients in eviction court. They have a common need, and it’s true for 9 million American households as well. I am currently behind on my rent:
they need money.
Katrina, Darren and Sheila are among them. 3 in 4 households qualify for housing subsidies but do not receive them Because we don’t fully fund the program. They have to pay market-rate rent, which makes up the bulk of their income even in good economic times. In bad times, rent can exceed income. Therefore, an eviction trial will be held.
I’m sure you can do more than this. We know it can be done because just a few years ago Katrina, Darren, Sheila, and almost everyone else currently in eviction court were safely housed. More than 3 million eviction cases have been prevented through emergency rental assistance, expanding the child tax credit, maximizing food stamps and extending unemployment benefits, the paper said. Princeton University Eviction Lab. in fact, Poverty rates actually fell During the Covid pandemic.
Since then, researchers at Columbia University and the City University of New York (CUNY) have studied the impact of those benefitsand confirmed what we saw in our clients’ lives. “The single most useful tool to help people survive the pandemic has been direct cash payments, used first and foremost to cover basic needs such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities and food. We understand that,” they said.
This is strong evidence of what we can do. that mountain of research show it cash without strings Produces dramatically positive results. Especially when it comes to housing, research shows that; give unconditional cash to homeless people It reduced homelessness and saved recipients money they would have spent on government programs. Cash is so effective because this and other studies have found that low-income people are far more likely to spend cash assistance on rent, food, and transportation than on “temptation goods” such as alcohol or drugs. Because it is shown.
A broader analysis shows that Annual Review of Psychology We reviewed multiple studies that investigated what actually makes people happy. It turns out that some of the common suspects, such as volunteer work and random acts of kindness, may not have as much influence in bringing happiness as we expected. But what works? As you can imagine, it’s money, especially for low-income earners.
Professors Dunnigan Falk and Elizabeth Dunn, professors of psychology at the University of British Columbia, said: “A growing number of rigorous pre-registered experiments are showing that cash transfers and other forms of financial support like these “This suggests that it may provide an effective mechanism to enhance the sense of well-being.” “Cash appears to be as good or better than other interventions with similar costs, such as psychotherapy or vocational training.”
This analysis is consistent with what we have seen in court. Would Katrina, Darren, and Sheila benefit from psychotherapy? Maybe. However, for most clients, the economic crisis seems to be causing more mental health problems than the reverse. Will vocational training help? Maybe again. But these people are already working in our communities in jobs essential to our economy, including home health care, food and service, retail trade, and warehouse work. So shouldn’t these jobs pay a living wage?
In our evaluation, Presidential Candidates’ Response to the Housing Crisis and the commotion is over build more housingthis simplicity is worth remembering. Until and unless we create more subsidized housing. real solutions to the crisiswhat our customers need most is direct cash.
