Giantaxe

Single-sex shelters are also way oversubscribed.

fakey

Vancouver, SF, NYC, London etc all have something obvious in common. They are all unbelievably expensive, highly desirable places to live, global cities that attract a highly skilled global workforce. Its an absurdly inefficient waste of money throwing billions of dollars on enabling homeless people to live in some of the most expensive places in the world
You also see a lot of homeless people in the Keys, Miami etc
Not so many in sub zero Alaska.
As for homeless families- if they have kids, they generally qualify for vouchers, section 8 etc

mrken30

Section 8 rates are quite often a year behind so can be several hundred dollars lower than actual rents. Also there is a limited number.

fakey

Sure - my point was somewhat in answer to the post above - housing policy is generally to attempt to avoid having children in shelters- which imho is sensible. Even so, in NYC for instance, it's not unusual.

dc koop

It's certainly an unpleasant experience walking along Market Street, S.F which unfortunately my grand daughter and I had to do because she wanted to ride on a cable car. There was a lot of panhandling, shouting, swearing and spitting on the sidewalk. She was scared out of her wits.

Early every morning the city street department have to hose down the sidewalks on Market with a water truck.

Leila112

I feel compelled to touch upon a few things about poverty in the US. As an American who barely crawled out of third world squalor in the good ol' USA, this hits home.

The US movie industry, has ran a glorious PR campaign of how brilliant and wealthy American life is. There are always so many opportunities, we live great lives...it couldn't be further from the truth. Their is a lack of a safety net, anyone here can ramble off a bunch of government programs but the majority of us will never get it.

The US imports talent because over half its population lives pay check to pay check, they could never pay out of pocket for the educations many expats had subsidized, which is why many make 6 figures and love America.

I had a decent job that shut down, I could not afford my mortgage, electric, water, food but I held on, and then I lost everything after a natural disaster, my last days in the US were working 3 jobs just to live. There was no help for my family, no viable solution to eliminate our suffering. I applied for my kids health insurance just for them to "lose" my pay slips several times, which resulted in fines, and when I thought it couldn't get worse one of my employers stopped paying employee taxes while pocketing it, the IRS hit me again. I have not got a pot to piss in and my government is aggressively attacking my impoverished, homeless family this is not right.

There is no compassion here, no one cares. If your kids can't eat "so what, not my problem" it's a heartless cold, unforgiving place. The attitudes you see are a reflection of how our government cares nothing for us. This woman I'm guessing was disillusioned by the life portrayed on TV of America and not the harsh reality.

I have an English husband, we met online and we worked 4 years to get me and my kids out. We are no way rich, we barely afford the visa requirements, but I love the UK. I have never imagined a better existence. This is my home, these are my people here. Not a day goes by people ask me why did I leave America.... Its painful, because I relive all the moments of my adult life remembering boiling pots for baths on a wood stove, growing food so the kids couldn't starve because food stamps couldn't cut it, nights in tears because my family was suffering and every attempt for help went unheard. This is the life many expats don't see, because they live away from it.

I was previously married and made single not by choice, I had a good job that my ex husband and I both worked at when they shut we had nothing.... Unemployment was a struggle to get, we found jobs at minimum wage quicker.


Imagine making $7.25 an hour and paying for food, 3 simple vegetables are equivalent to one hours work.... This is insane, but this is life for the poor. I know more would be begging, but its shameful, embarrassing in the US, no one ever feels compassion or empathy especially for the poor, and some of the biggest haters of the poor are poor themselves.

This is my theory, Expats come to the US and fill in the skilled labor American people can't afford, their attitude "America is great". Americans are brainwashed to believe America is number one, so they cheerlead everywhere they are number one, which reinforces outsiders beliefs that America is amazing. Then you have the media, and last but not least articles written by mainly British along the lines of NHS is in disrepair, highliting a story such as a 75 year old lady had a doctors appointment at 9:45 am and wasn't seen till 10.....Many Americans won't read the article, they read the headline and use it to justify their self righteousness.

I can't believe the number of people here in the UK that think they can go to America and make it big with no skill set, and that everything is paved with gold..... I try my best to bring them to reality, they won't have it. The same as my family, some of who have called me a traitor and disowned me. They will never believe that my kids live a better life, and that my choices were being destitute till death and watch my children bare the burden of my income as a nail on the coffin for them, while speaking to the man I love on Skype for eternity. Or getting the hell out and give us all social mobility.....

I know I have rambled on, but if I didn't have my mom who is really all I have I would be this lady begging, or sleeping with my kids in a car, this country is not for the faint of heart..... The poor live a terrible quality of life they are not garunteed a minimum standard of living like in the UK.... Even your people on the dole have disposable income.

I came here because I wanted to see if any expats knew the plight of our poor, the topic of homelessness and poverty is deep for me.

Hiro11

Two facts to interject with regard to the post above:
1. America is #2 in the world when it comes to personal charitable donations, behind Myanmar (strangely) and significantly higher than all European countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Giving_Index
2. Federal spending on poverty fighting entitlements like Welfare, Medicaid, TANF, SNAP is now about $18k/person or $72K for a family of 4 living below the poverty line: Poverty and spending over the years - Federal Safety Net

These facts run counter to the idea that "no one cares" about poverty in the US, both for individuals as well as the government.

petitefrancaise

I've also seen the figures you talk about. In my mind, the "charitable donations" made by individuals are merely social security/national insurance payments in disguise. Also, the figures are skewed by the large donations made by corporations to "charities" of their choice as a tax write-off. Getting the money to people in need is a different matter altogether.
There is a nasty, pervasive attitude in the USA that poor people somehow deserve it and if they remain poor then that is their choice.

At my kids HS, in a fairly well off neighbourhood, there are parents working 3 jobs - is that their choice? Kids getting up and working before and after school. The schools hand out backpacks on Friday filled with food for certain kids who would otherwise not have enough to eat over the weekend whilst other kids in the same school get picked up in new SUV's worth $70k. It's too easy to not see it right under your nose.

Giantaxe

Another huge difference in those states that didn't accept the Medicaid expansion is healthcare access. In those states typically only adults in households with minor age children have access to Medicaid.

tooboocoo

I've also seen the figures you talk about. In my mind, the "charitable donations" made by individuals are merely social security/national insurance payments in disguise.
So the Gallup people brazenly included mandatory tax takings in the US data just to make the US look better? Why would they do that - is there any evidence for this?

Also, the figures are skewed by the large donations made by corporations to "charities" of their choice as a tax write-off.
That's what corporations in most free-market economies do - minimize their tax obligations. Again, any evidence that Gallup only pulled this trick for the US figures?

Getting the money to people in need is a different matter altogether.
Yes, it most certainly is, and this difficulty is hardly unique to US aid/charity efforts.

There is a nasty, pervasive attitude in the USA that poor people somehow deserve it and if they remain poor then that is their choice.
I don't know what you base this statement on - perhaps you could elaborate? If such an attitude is "pervasive", then explain the school handing out food packages, as you mention.
I would instead contend (from extensive travels and conversations within the US - I don't live there) that people in the US generally are less naive about the simple reality that, in a free (and very competitive) society, some will achieve great success and wealth, and some will have more modest lives.

At my kids HS, in a fairly well off neighbourhood, there are parents working 3 jobs - is that their choice?
Of course it isn't, they are working 3 jobs because the 1st and 2nd jobs together don't bring in enough income to support a family. The reason for that is, there is an abundance of cheap labour, especially unskilled - as the unfortunate people you mention no doubt are. This drives down the 'value' of this labour - the hourly wage earned - in classic supply-and-demand fashion.
It's unfashionable to point out that the overriding (but not only) reason for the presence of all that competing cheap labour is mass immigration, mostly illegal, since at least the early '80s. But it's true.