US: Homelessness Surges As Pandemic-Era Safety Net Provisions Expire

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – US homelessness spiked by a dramatic 12% in 2023 compared to the year before, after the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan financial provisions expired, Relevant reports.

A new US Department of Housing and Urban Development report shows that 653,100 people endured homelessness last year, although analysts say this figure may have been substantially higher depending on diverse counting methodologies, Relevant said. Now that pandemic provisions including eviction moratoria and rental assistance are over, the pre-pandemic level of homelessness that was present from 2016 to 2020 has returned.

The HUD report noted that Black Americans constitute 37% of the homeless population, despite making up just 13% of the total US population. Asian Americans experienced a 40% spike in homelessness from 2022-2023 while Hispanic or Latino Americans experienced a 28 percent rise in homelessness during the same period.

The HUD report coincides with a report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies for Housing Studies which shows that half of Americans are “cost burdened each month over paying rent. “Before the pandemic, housing cost burdens swiftly climbed the income scale, especially in high-cost markets, while households with lower incomes grappled with persistently high burdens. The pandemic significantly exacerbated these problems as rents surged at unprecedented rates, leaving record numbers of renters struggling to afford housing and other basic needs. Against this backdrop and with the sunsetting of pandemic-era supports for renters, evictions have risen and more people are experiencing homelessness than ever before,” the Harvard report reads.

“More people are homeless because housing is simply too expensive,” Antonia Fasanelli, NHLC executive director, told Relevant. “Politicians must resist the false bill of goods being sold by venture fund billionaires that further their arrest and police heavy response to homelessness and stay focused on the proven solution: housing.”

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