The homeless population in New York City has risen to never before seen levels, according to a recent report published by the advocacy group Coalition for the Homeless. A staggering 113,552 people slept in the city’s emergency shelters last year, including over 40,000 children. The total marked an 8 percent increase from the previous year and a 37 percent increase from 2002.
The report also highlighted the growing number of families sleeping in shelters—another record, at nearly 29,000 families in the system, an increase of over 80 percent from 2002 levels. Also skyrocketing was the number of families who had previously spent some time in the shelters returning for further aid, now approximately half of all those receiving assistance.
However, even these numbers in fact drastically underestimate the true scope of the homeless crisis in New York City. According to the NYC Department of Homeless Services, 64 percent of those applying for emergency shelter last year were denied it... Three years after the Wall Street meltdown, the official jobless rate in New York City remains near 9 percent, with real unemployment and underemployment much higher. In particular, the long-term joblessness that has characterized this economic crisis continues to bring severe hardship—and homelessness—to large numbers throughout the city.
Yet even for those who have escaped unemployment, a job is by no means a guarantee of housing. A significant percentage of adult workers—
nearly a third citywide and over 40 percent in the Bronx—are classified as low-wage earners, according to the Center for an Urban Future. For New York City, this equates to
a wage under $11.54 per hour, or $24,000 per year on a full-time schedule.http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/home-a26.shtml