Homelessness and the Impact of Coronavirus

One freezing night in late October, I laid outside on the lawn of my university wrapped in scarves, sweaters, and blankets staring up at the sheet of black that covered the sky. The service organization at my college organized an event in which students put together toiletry packets to donate to local shelters and then slept outside for a night in solidarity with the hundreds of individuals facing homelessness in our communities. I remember being awake at 3am, kept awake by the chilling wind that whipped across the lawn and the lack of security resulting from sleeping without shelter. This brief experience only provided a small insight into the hardships dealt with by our country’s homeless population, especially due to the coronavirus pandemic.  

According to a report released in January 2020 by the United States Department for Housing and Urban Development detailing homelessness in the previous year, roughly 568,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States on a single night in 2019 (Meghan Henry et al). Approximately 63% of these individuals were staying in sheltered locations, such as transitional housing or emergency shelters, and 37% did not have any form of shelter, living on the street, in an abandoned building, or other unsuitable human habitations (Meghan Henry et al). This total number represents a 3% increase in 2018-2019 from the previous year’s estimate (Meghan Henry et al). Notably, the overall trend over the past thirteen years demonstrates a decrease in the homelessness by about 12% or 79,000 people from 2007 to 2019 (Meghan Henry et al). Although the number of homeless individuals declined in most states, the increases in the West Coast states, primarily California, drove the overall increases in recent years. However, these statistics do not encompass the far-reaching devastation caused by COVID-19 in 2020. 

The COVID-19 pandemic tragically highlights the vulnerability present in the homeless population as federal and state officials urge all citizens to remain home, but without a stable home, these individuals simply cannot. Further, the strained homeless shelters and transition houses are put in an impossible situation as they struggle to take in more people off the streets to decrease the spread of the virus while also complying with social distancing regulations in their limited space. Spreading information about the coronavirus even presents a challenge as many individuals do not have access to the internet and volunteers have begun to stay home due to the heightened risk (Jeff Stein and Tracy Jen). 

On March 18, 2020, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced that all foreclosures and evictions would be suspended for the next 60 days. The self-quarantining orders caused a slow down in the economy that caused many individuals, especially those low-income workers in hospitality and leisure, to see a drastic decline in their income or a loss of that income entirely. Therefore, this measure, along with various other provisions from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), would provide some short-term stability and protections to the lowest-income renters. But the unavoidable question remains: what happens in 60 days?

On April 3, 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Employment Situation Report cites the labor data from the previous month. This report indicates a reduction of 701,000 in total nonfarm payroll employment, with appromixately 65% of these losses resulting from employment in leisure and hospitality. The unemployment rate rose by 0.9% in one month to 4.4% overall. This monthly increase represents the steepest incline since January of 1975 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Considering that unemployment is a primary factor contributing to homelessness, these national statistics provide an alarming forecast into the upcoming months. The massive impact on the labor force is similarly reflected in the number of citizens filing for unemployment benefits. This number skyrocked to an average of 5,508,500 initial claims per week in the past four weeks, according to the seasonally adjusted data from the Department of Labor (Department of Labor). The cumulative total for those four weeks stretched over 22 million claims filed, which exhibits the devastation inflicted by this virus to the labor market. Furthermore, the strain on the state’s call centers caused by this astronomical climb in filings would cause this amount to be an underestimate. The graph provided below from the New York Times demonstrates the severity of this incline in the context of the past 17 years (Schwartz). 

As seen above, the claims made weekly during the Great Recession do not come close to the amounts recorded in the recent weeks. However, this time period of growing poverty and unemployment can still provide key insights into an effective response to prevent homelessness. In 2009, Congress authorized a stimulus package that included $1.5 billion dollars for the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (Lurie). This program focused on increasing access to permanent housing options, coordinating a federal response to homelessness, creating better performance measures, and improving the re-entry process. The continuation of the national trend of declining homelessness after the Great Recession indicates the success of these efforts in addition to the initiatives created by the formal federal plan launched in 2010 (Leopold).

Understandably, many politicians and citizens remain hopeful for a possible boom when the economy is opened up again and people can, theoretically, return to work. In a New York Times article, the chief economist at S&P Global, Beth Ann Bovino, said that she expects one-third of the jobs lost to return by July if businesses begin to reopen in May” (Schwartz). If this slow rate of recovery holds, then the amount of time in which individuals and families need assistance will stretch much further than May 17th, 60 days after Secretary Carson’s initial announcement. However, there does not seem to be a clear path forward, as many individuals who rent out properties similarly depend on that income to sustain their own living expenses. 

In October, I sought to better understand the difficult circumstances experienced by members of my local community through a homelessness awareness event and donation drive. Now, coronavirus has imposed a shared suffering on the country from which no one can escape. Rooted in this solidarity, this unique situation presents an opportunity for a national unity and empathy that compels us to reach out and assist each other to weather the adversity caused by COVID-19. To aid those facing the possibility of homelessness, communication between federal and state government officials and organizations such as the National Alliance to End Homelessness will be necessary to coordinate a comprehensive response as the country gradually comes out of isolation. 

References

Department of Labor. Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims. 16 April 2020. https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf

Henry, Meghan, Rian Watt, Anna Mahathey, Jillian Ouellette, and Aubrey Sitler. The 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress.The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, January 2020. https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2019-AHAR-Part-1.pdf

Leopold, Josh. Five Ways the HEARTH Act Changed Homelessness Assistance. Urban Institute, 9 May 2019. https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/five-ways-hearth-act-changed-homelessness-assistance

Lurie, Stephen. The Astonishing Decline of Homelessness in America… and why this trend is about to reverse itself. The Atlantic, 26 August 2013. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/08/the-astonishing-decline-of-homelessness-in-america/279050/

National Alliance to End Homelessness. The State of Homelessness in America. https://b.3cdn.net/naeh/d1b106237807ab260f_qam6ydz02.pdf 

Schwartz, Nelson. ‘Nowhere to Hide’ as Unemployment Permeates the Economy. The New York Times, 16 April 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/business/economy/unemployment-numbers-coronavirus.html

Stein, Jeff and Tracy Jan. Fears mount about impact of coronavirus on the homeless. The Washington Post, 15 March 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/15/fears-mount-about-impact-coronavirus-homeless/

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Situation Summary. 3 April 2020. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm