The number of homeless people in the United States has jumped by 12 percent to a record high, in part due to rent inflation, per a new report.
Homelessness has risen sharply in the United States, with a report from House and Urban Development (HUD) indicating that around 653,000 people were homeless, the highest number on record.
Inflation combined with the end of pandemic-era protections against eviction were the key culprits identified in the HUD report, released on Dec. 15. Another major factor noted in the report was the housing supply crunch.
HUD’s annual 2023 Point-in-Time Count, which measured homelessness on a single night in January 2023, showed a 12 percent rise in homelessness (or by 70,650 individuals) compared to a year earlier. This sent the total to 653,104 homeless people, the highest since the agency launched the point-in-time gauge in 2007.
“For those on the frontlines of this crisis, it’s not surprising. People across the country are struggling to pay skyrocketing rents,” Ann Olivia, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said in a statement.
The sharpest rise in homelessness was among people in families with children—this measure rose by 15.5 percent. Next was homelessness among unaccompanied youths, which increased by 15.3 percent.
Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who is running for the U.S. Senate, blamed President Joe Biden’s policies for fueling homelessness.
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The rise in homelessness was driven mostly by a sharp increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness for the first time, according to HUD. Between fiscal years 2021 and 2022, the number of people who became newly homeless soared by 25 percent.
The jump in first-time homelessness is likely due to a combination of factors, HUD said, including rent hikes and the winding down of pandemic-era protections and programs focused on preventing evictions and housing loss.
The record-setting homelessness came on the heels of steep rent increases combined with stagnant renter household incomes. An analysis of Census Bureau data by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows that the median rent rose by an inflation-adjusted 18.8 percent between 2001 and 2022, while median renter household income rose by 4.3 percent within the same time frame.
By Tom Ozimek
