DEFINING STUDENT HOMELESSNESS AND IT’S CAUSES
Student Homelessness is an epidemic that is silently taking place within the lives of students who can be your classmates and even your friends. Often times when we think of the homeless, we envision someone living out in tents, and asking for spare change. We think of the homeless population as disengaged and unemployed individuals. This ideology blinds many to the crisis that is happening within the lives of many students. Students facing housing insecurity are spending their nights living in their cars, sleeping in their campus libraries, and couch-surfing within any form of shelter they can obtain. Many others are being guided to community resources like shelters and churches for emergency housing. And while they are out of the streets, that doesn’t stop them from being homeless. Student homelessness differs in the way that homelessness and housing insecurity are interchangable. According to the Mckinney Act, the term for homeless youth and children is defined as “ individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” (Section 725). This also includes individuals temporarily living in cars, hotels, shelters, and with others due to the loss of housing or economic adversities. Many people have the misconception that because they don’t see students in the streets, wearing tattering clothing, or exhibiting the homeless appearance, means that they are not undergoing housing insecurity. This misconception can become dangerous in the way that students under these circumstances are unaware that they are going through student homelessness so they don’t necessarily feel eligible for many resources. The language that is commonly used in housing resources is that students need to be going through an urgent crisis to even be considered for emergency housing within many campuses. This misconception goes further into affecting how campus administrations have a hard time understanding the extremes of this issue and is likely to dismiss the data due to the lack of visual manifestations from this issue. We can apply the sociological imagination into this topic through viewing it from a micro to a macro perspective. Students have a socialized definition of what homelessness means which can differ from making them think that their housing instability is not as serious. In order to understand the individual issue and its series of cases, one must also look at the flaws within the academic and structural institutions that can be causing or making this public issue worse. It is important to become aware of the proper definition for student homelessness in order to bring awareness to others and work with it in order to improve the issue.
MAIN CAUSES OF HOMELESSNESS:
Many people link homelessness to be the main result of unemployment, however research states that the lack of a sufficient income has resulted to be one of the most prominent causes for both homelessness and housing insecurity. It was also found that “Workers who earn less than $12 per hour working full-time still fall below the poverty line of $25,100” (affordable colleges 2018). The second leading factor to this crisis is the lack of affordable housing. The cost of housing has tremendously increased during the past recent years mainly due to Gentrification. As the price of rents increase so does the gap in between housing costs and minimum wage. This creates a decreasing in subsidized federal housing making affordable housing less available and more in demand. Studies have found that “renters must earn an average of 21.21$ per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in America, while only three affordable housing rentals exist on the market for every 10 low-income families seeking a roof over their heads”(Family Promise cited by Mcwhirter). Residents are either pushed to move out into other areas, find shelter with other family members or by any other means which result in either housing insecurity or homelessness. The third main cause for students comes from having conflict with family or other roommates undergoing tension or instability. Youth.gov finds that conflicts within family revolve around “violence, neglect, physical, or mental abuse” (Mcwirther,2018). During these personal battles, many students would much rather deal with homelessness than staying stuck in an uncomfortable and sometimes unhealthy situation. Overall studies found that 62 % of homeless students found themselves driven to leave their homes from personal conflicts (Journeys Home cited by Wcwirther).
WHO IS MOSTLY AFFECTED?
FOSTER YOUTH:
In the 2018 Still Hungry and Homeless in College Study, 60%- 68% out of 686 former foster youth students resulted in having faced housing insecurity. 1 in 4 are stated to have gone through homelessness during the year of 2018. In comparison to students who had no history in the foster care system, those who did resulted to have a higher percentage to be homeless.
Gender and Sexual Orientation:
Along with other categories, gender and sexual orientation groups were also taken into the analysis. It was reported that “roughly half of non-binary respondents at both two and four year institutions experienced both food and housing insecurity, and nearly a quarter experienced homelessness.”(2018). Female students also ranked higher in experiencing these circumstances in comparison to males. In regards to sexual orientation, it was surprising to see that most of the students who had experienced higher numbers in student homelessness were those who identified as bisexual and homosexual. Bisexual students had the highest percentage of 55% for housing insecurity and 23% for homelessness in comparison to those who were gay or lesbian. The research also wanted to observe students between race and ethnicity backgrounds in pursuit of a possible pattern. Marginalized groups such as those coming from black,Native American, Hispanic and multiracial reported to have the highest scores in comparison to Asian and white students. While there hasn’t been a permanent solution to target student homelessness, many policies and resources are being introduced into legislation and university administrations. It is important to be aware of the problem and who it affects in order to target systematic flaws and look towards long term sustainable solutions.
Writers, Staff. “Help for Homeless College Students: Resources & Programs.” AffordableCollegesOnline.org, AffordableCollegesOnline.org, 6 May 2019, www.affordablecollegesonline.org/homeless-students-guide/.
Congress, 100th United States. “Part C — Homeless Education.” Home, US Department of Education, 19 Dec. 2005, www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg116.html.
Writers, Staff. “Student Homelessness and Needs Insecurity Guide.” BestColleges.com, BestColleges.com, 30 Oct. 2018, www.bestcolleges.com/resources/homeless-student-guide/.
Writers, Staff. “Help for Homeless College Students: Resources & Programs.” AffordableCollegesOnline.org, AffordableCollegesOnline.org, 6 May 2019, www.affordablecollegesonline.org/homeless-students-guide/.
