The employment levels of homeless single adults and homeless adults in families appeared to diverge following homelessness. Working homeless single adults, however, earned more on average than working homeless adults in families prior to, during, and after their shelter stays. The authors suggest that differences in employment and earnings between homeless single adults and homeless adults in families were driven by demographic factors, namely gender and age.
Most homeless adults in families were female and most single adults were male, and men tend to earn more than women in the general workforce. Myth: Homeless people are lazy. Fact: Surviving on the street takes more work than we realize. Homeless men and women are often sleep-deprived, cold, wet, and sick.
Their minds, hearts and bodies are exhausted. With no transportation and little money, they can spend all day getting to food and maybe an appointment before they need to search for a safe place to sleep, all while trying to keep their personal possessions safe.
It is not a life of ease. Though some help is available, they may have no idea where to begin navigating the maze of social service agencies and bureaucracy. Fact: Many well-intentioned people have genuine concerns about offering low-income or free housing to homeless people suffering alcoholism, drug addiction or mental illness.
Yet, there is strong evidence that shows otherwise. For example:. Pathways to Housing Housing First Program — A wide range of studies conducted by an array of investigators in different cities have found that Pathways to Housing programs have a significant, positive impact on its target population.
Major findings include the following:. At two-year follow-up, participants assigned to Pathways Housing First reported significantly more choice with respect to their housing, treatment, and daily living than participants in the comparison group. From baseline to two-year follow-up, participants assigned to Pathways Housing First accrued significantly fewer supportive housing and services costs than participants in the comparison group. Source: U. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
Click here to see the report and learn more about Housing First, its benefits and overall success. Myth: There are ample services for homeless people. Fact: While there are many organizations and programs in the Tampa-Hillsborough County community that provide housing and services for homeless individuals and families, the current level of resources do not meet the need. This unfortunately means that not everyone can get help. Our community is not alone in this reality.
However, we have learned that the communities that are doing more than simply managing the need are those that have a coordinated, common strategy that:. Not only have wages stagnated or declined over the last two decades, but also job stability and job security have deteriorated.
The share of workers in "long term jobs" those lasting at least 10 years fell sharply between and , with the worst deterioration taking place since the end of the s Mishel, Bernstein, and Schmitt, Another measure of job stability, involuntary job loss, has increased in recent years.
And more than one-fourth of those who had health insurance on their old jobs don't have it at their new ones Mishel, Bernstein, and Schmitt, Another trend impacting job security is non-standard work. These kinds of work arrangements typically offer lower wages, fewer benefits, and less job security.
A useful measure of the decline in job security is underemployment. Unlike the unemployment rate, measures of underemployment reflect not only individuals who are unemployed, but also involuntary part-timers and those who want to work but have been discouraged by their lack of success. In , the underemployment rate stood at 9. One reason for the higher level of underemployment is the increasing number of involuntary part-time workers -- workers who want to work full time but have only been able to obtain part time work.
Thus, for many Americans, work provides no escape from poverty. The benefits of economic growth have not been equally distributed; instead, they have been concentrated at the top of income and wealth distributions. A rising tide does not lift all boats, and in the United States today, many boats are struggling to stay afloat. For those with limited skills or experience, opportunities for jobs that pay a living wage are very limited. In such a competitive environment, the difficulties of job seeking as a homeless person can be almost insurmountable barriers to employment.
Much has been learned from programs designed to help homeless people obtain and maintain employment in recent decades. In , the U. Authorized by the Stewart B. McKinney Act, the JTHDP program provided funds for basic skills and literacy instruction, job training, referral, and job search activities.
A national evaluation of the JTHDP program found that barriers to employment experienced by homeless people include lack of education or competitive work skills, lack of transportation, lack of day care, and disabling conditions U. Department of Labor, The evaluation found that successful employment programs must provide access to a wide array of services, including housing, to help homeless persons overcome obstacles to employment.
The evaluation concluded that if national employment and training initiatives such as the Job Training Partnership Act, or JTPA are to serve effectively America's homeless population, they must specifically target their outreach and enrollment efforts to homeless individuals.
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