1992 Reports

Why Homelessness? Some Theory

O'Flaherty, Brendan Andrew

During the 1980's, a decade of relative prosperity, the number of people living in the streets, in subway stations, cardboard boxes, bus terminals, or severely derelict buildings probably grew substantially in most American cities. The number of people living in homeless shelters and welfare hotels definitely skyrocketed. By 1990, one person in 200 in New York City was living either on the streets or in a shelter, and each of Manhattan's major transportation terminals had the population of a medium-sized apartment building, but no apartments. Why did this happen? In this paper I will try to give an answer.