It’s not uncommon to walk down the street and see a homeless person, at least in California. Many people who have visited from all around the world have claimed that they were shocked by the amount of homeless people. Not that they didn’t have homeless people where they lived, but the fact that in California, there were so many.

Why would there be such a homeless increase in California compared to all of the other states? Homelessness can happen when you have a lack of housing. Not many people with low incomes are able to get apartments or houses because of the fact they have a low paying job, they need to get food, pay taxes, and other bills that can prevent their ability to pay rent every month. Low wages are also an existential problem. Many people work 12 hour shifts and aren’t able to even get enough money to care for themselves let alone pay for any extra expenses. The cost of living often increases but wages do not. 

While the economy is growing and getting more expensive, workplaces should also make the compromise of paying their workers more for the same hours they’ve done before. 

Health also can fall into place of this. If you are older or have a disability, being able to work is something you might not be able to participate in. Many places will not hire you because of that or you may lose your job due to that situation. 

Getting into more extreme issues, racism is also a big part of homelessness in California and America all around. Many people believe that racism has “expired” in a way due to there being no major laws against or race or a person to prevent them from just living life but that doesn’t mean discrimintation and prejudice has faded. 

California has an estimate of 161,548 homeless people which is 28% Of America’s homeless population. Bringing awareness to these issues and seeing them as the extreme matters that they are will hopefully change in time to where homelessness would be extremely uncommon.