The Leading Cause Of Homelessness In The United States

Words: 1007
Pages: 5

Homelessness is a very devastating situation that families can go through. Becoming homeless disrupts the families life, can damage physical and emotional health, and can interfere with children’s education and development. This tends to lead to the separation of family members and spouses. There are many consequences and causes that lead to homeless women. Although when we think of the word “homeless”, we tend to think of men, but that is not always the case. There are many homeless women that are a significant problem here in the United States, which is highly over looked by society. Because of the causes and consequences of women who are homeless, this is a problem that needs to be addressed and reassured that it is happening.
Homelessness
…show more content…
There have been many changes in the welfare program, which adds an increasing amount of poverty rates. Since wages are declining, this puts housing options out of reach for some families. In most states, you need to have at least a minimum wage job to afford a simple apartment. Today, fewer people are receiving benefits because of jobs that result in poor wages and inconsistent jobs in the work force. When losing benefits and having an unstable job, families struggle to get food, health care, and being able to afford housing options. This gets extremely hard when children are involved. Because of the reform of welfare, 400,000 women with children lost health insurance (Families, USA 1999). As a result, poverty is growing in many ways and is leading to a significant high number of homeless women and women with …show more content…
The mother may also leave the children with family members or close friends in order to keep them safe. Also if children are involved, the mother has to keep in mind that being homeless can affect the child’s education and schooling. Therefore many decisions have to be made for the child. Problems that could occur with the child’s schooling are transportation, residency requirements, inability to obtain school records, and lack of clothes and school supplies. These are a few of many consequences of how being homeless will affect the children and the education.
Not only does it affect the children, it will also have a damaging affect on the mother as well. Many women suffer from depression and can lead to mental health disorders as well. Women also suffer from loneliness and isolation. Women have a hard time seeking out for help and often leads to discouraging behavior (Crisis.org). No matter what, women are going to have a traumatic experience when they are in poverty and being homeless. Women have to make important decisions for their children and even