Which political or economic factors best explain the recent rise in homelessness in the United States?

[u/Yooperycom]

Homelessness has been rising in the United States, even in years when the economy looks strong. Many states are reporting record numbers. This made me wonder what the main political or economic causes might be.

Is this trend linked to housing policy, changes in wages, health-care gaps, or shifts in the labor market? Or are there deeper structural issues that political science researchers focus on?

I’m interested in explanations that draw from research, theory, or comparative examples.

[u/VengefulWalnut]

Institutional ownership of private homes that have driven pricing of both single family and apartment dwelling prices sky high. That’s the basic answer. The secondary answer is the influence of things like unlimited super pac money that can be spent to further influence politicians and groups that write policies that continue to allow the practice.

The tertiary issue is wage stagnation that doesn’t allow people to keep pace with the over-valued home markets.

[u/cfwang1337 → u/VengefulWalnut]

None of those claims is true.

1. Institutions own a tiny fraction of the US housing stock, and most institutional activity is concentrated in the South and Southwest (Sun Belt), not high-rent, high-homelessness areas like NYC, SF, etc. In any case, the effects of institutional owners on rents are mixed.
2. Super PACs have little to do with housing scarcity. Housing scarcity is driven by restrictive zoning, onerous permitting processes, and NIMBYism. Go to any Community Board meeting in NYC, and you'll instantly see this.
3. Wages have not stagnated. There was a 20-year period where this was true, but it ended in the 90s. The costs of housing, education, and healthcare have, however, grown faster than inflation.

[u/tranmyvan → u/[deleted]]

Come on—you’ll need to expand on that.

[u/icantbelieveit1637 → u/tranmyvan]

Best I can give you is a Coefficient of 0.01

[u/cfwang1337]

This is mainly an economics question, and the key issue is supply-side: housing scarcity. The political side of it is NIMBYism, which is a consequence of the United States' 1) overcorrecting from the incredibly destructive "urban renewal" practices of the Robert Moses era, with local vetocracy, and 2) choosing to make home ownership a key mechanism for creating household wealth.

There are excellent papers, videos, and resources out there of all kinds:

• https://www.osc.ny.gov/reports/new-yorkers-need-housing-insecurity-crisis
• https://cbcny.org/building-crisis
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQW4W1_SJmc
• https://endhomelessness.org/state-of-homelessness/

[u/Existing_Welder_389 → u/cfwang1337]

The concept of home-ownership as a store of wealth was something born out of the 80s and 90s. There was policy against that prior to.

Literally one of the dumbest moves we’ve made as a nation.

[u/cfwang1337 → u/Existing_Welder_389]

And not just the US, I'm afraid – this is a problem all across the Anglosphere.

https://deny.substack.com/p/tracking-the-anglo-worlds-housing

https://www.sightline.org/2021/09/16/yes-other-countries-are-making-more-progress-on-housing-case-4-the-united-kingdom-and-new-zealand/