ABSTRACT
Homelessness has become an election-year issue. The majority of the chronically homeless—however able-bodied they may be—are simply unemployable in the economy. Displacement from low-income housing is one of the most widespread factors in homelessness. As homelessness was growing in the past decade, so, too, was the proportion of income that the poor pay for shelter. The 1977 Annual HousingSurvey reveals that in 1976 more than 5.8 million households paid over half of their incomes for shelter, including utilities. The basic reason for the shortage is that housing for people with low and moderate incomes is no longer "profitable" on its own, without government subsidy. Supplemental Security Income has disqualified thousands of recipients. Unemployment, lack of low-income housing, eroding welfare benefits, and lack of resources for the mentally disabled often converge to produce homelessness. As hunger and homelessness take on stronger dimensions in the election year, there is growing talk of solutions—short-term ones.
