"At least things are still good for those at the very top of the food chain. But for everyone else, economic conditions have already become very painful. Today, the vast majority of Americans have less money than they did prior to the pandemic, and thanks to raging inflation our standard of living is steadily going down. We are in the early stages of “the greatest real estate correction” in our history, and 1 out of every five children in the United States does not have enough food to eat. With each passing day, more members of the middle class join the ranks of the poor, and more poor people find themselves getting kicked out into the streets. According to the Wall Street Journal, new numbers show that the number of homeless people in the United States has reached a brand new record high…
The U.S. count of homeless people surged to the highest level on record, reaching more than 653,000 people early this year as Covid-19 pandemic-aid spending faded, new federal data show. The increase reflects a collision of factors: rising housing costs; limited affordable housing units; the opioid epidemic; and the expired pandemic-era aid that had helped keep people in their homes, federal officials said Friday.
In addition to having more homeless people in this country than ever before, additional people are becoming homeless at the fastest pace on record…"Homelessness shot up by more than 12% this year, reaching 653,104 people. The numbers represent the sharpest increase and largest unhoused population since the federal government began tallying totals in 2007, the U.S. Department of Urban Planning and Development said Friday. Last year, federal data showed 582,462 people experienced homelessness."
We have literally never seen a spike in homelessness like this before. It is being reported that prior to these new numbers “the previous largest increase was a spike of 2.7 percent recorded in 2019”. Just think about that for a moment. At no point during the “Great Recession” did we see an increase in homelessness like this. Essentially the floodgates have opened up and an absolutely massive tsunami of homelessness has begun.
Sadly, some groups are being hit much harder than others…Black people made up 13% of the U.S. population in 2023, but they made up 21% of the U.S. population living in poverty, 37% of all people experiencing homelessness and 50% of homeless people in families with children. Asian and Asian American people had the largest percentage increase in homelessness, up 40% from 2022, to a total of 11,574. Hispanic and Latino people saw the largest numerical increase, up 28% from 2022 to 179,336 in 2023.
And please keep in mind that these are the ones that they can actually count. How many more homeless Americans are out there that can’t be found or that don’t want to be found? Of course many of you don’t need me to tell you that we have a homelessness crisis in America. All you have to do to see it is to step outside your front door.
In San Francisco, residents have to do “the Poopie Dance” as they go to work because so many homeless people use the streets as a toilet…"They call it ‘The Poopie Dance’ and San Franciscans are having to learn it – and quickly. It involves constantly looking straight ahead to find a clean line between where you are on the street and where you want to go." Sadly, it’s the reality in parts of the Bay City as the growing homeless population have taken to using the famed streets of San Francisco as one giant open-air toilet.
So why is this happening? Well, the truth is that there are a lot of factors that are contributing to this crisis, but one of the biggest is the fact that housing in the U.S. is now more unaffordable than it has ever been before…"High housing costs continue to be a financial stressor for the poorest Americans. In recent years, more people in the U.S. are rent-burdened, according to HUD, meaning they spend more than 30% or even over 50% of their income on rent."
Of course just about everything is less affordable these days. For example, just check out what a new Ford F-150 will cost you these days…"For the 2024 F-150 XLT, in the two-door rear-wheel-drive base-everything configuration, the MSRP before “destination and delivery charges” is $47,620 per Ford’s website today. The “destination and delivery charges” of $1,995 give the truck a total MSRP of $49,615. The average transaction price for all new vehicles sold is about $46,000, according to J.D. Power. A fully decked-out high-end F-series 4×4 Crew Cab can be well over $100,000."
Ouch! A new truck is out of reach for most Americans at this point. And actually “a middle class lifestyle” is out of reach for most Americans at this point. The numbers that the government gives us say that we aren’t officially in a recession at this moment, but to most of us it certainly feels like a recession has already begun…
"That’s according to a recent survey conducted by Bankrate, which found 59% of U.S. adults feel like the economy is in a recession, defined by two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Regardless of income, households said they are feeling the pressure at about the same amount. Sixty percent of respondents in the lowest-income households, making under $50,000 a year, said the economy feels like it is in a recession. Of those in higher-income households making more than $100,000 annually, 61% agreed."
I wish that I could tell you that economic conditions will improve in 2024 and beyond. But I can’t do that, because the truth is that they are going to get worse. The U.S. economy really is plunging into an abyss, and so much pain and suffering is ahead. So if you have a warm home to sleep in tonight, be thankful, because there are countless others that do not."
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