The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released on Dec. 27 its “Annual Homelessness Assessment Report: Point-in-Time Estimates,” which showed a startling increase of 18% in homeless from January 2023 to January 2024. The agency works with points in the country that take the survey all on the same date in January. The result showed that an estimated 770,000 people experienced homelessness in 2023. The criterion is roughly whether the person had at least one night with no home. The count is considered low, because it does not include thousands of people bunking with family and friends, or any other such makeshift lodging.
The one-year jump in the number of homeless stands out, considering that it took a decade prior to 2023, for the national homeless total to rise by 18%—already an unacceptable change. The factors include all of what is expected, given the breakdown of production in the economy, lack of means to afford rental or purchase, and lack of available apartments and homes.
