Homelessness is a large problem in America. It is defined as, lacking a fixed night time shelter and loss of control over ones environment. On any given night in the United States there are over 800,000 men, women, and children who don't know where they will sleep. There are many causes to this situation, such as, a decline in public assistance, lack of affordable housing, lack of affordable health care, mental illness, domestic violence, and substance abuse, among others. Although the government has assistance programs, it is often not enough to keep a family in a home because of rising rent rates. The problem of homelessness does not only effect those without homes it also effects everyone in the country.
             Homelessness starts with poverty, when a person, or family, is unable to pay for essential things like food, health care, education, and housing. In 1997, 35.6 million people lived in poverty according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census. 41% of those 35.6 million people are living in extreme poverty, which is living on less than half of the income the government considers poverty level, and the numbers are increasing. Children are found in the extreme poverty level twice as much as any other age group. The increase in poverty can be attributed to less good employment opportunities and a declining availability in substantial public assistance.
             It is harder to get a job that will keep an individual or family in a house or apartment. Part of the problem is the wages that stay the same or fall. The rises the government has made in minimum wage are not that helpful. Although the amount of money the workers get is greater, the real value is 18.1% less than in 1979. Some factors in wage decline are: decline in manufacturing jobs, due to new technologies where machines do the work of 5 people; more low paying jobs, because people only stay in those jobs for a small amount of time; globalization, companies will take their
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