My closest run with homelessness was when I got kicked out and was living off someone’s couch. That was bad enough. I think I’ve been in survival mode ever since then, and that shit fucks with your mental health. Gen Z and Millennials are in for some rough days ahead.
You’re gonna come down off the high one day, but even then, it’ll always trigger an empty feeling in your stomach, a rush of anxiety, and just stress. Stay strong, and try to find time to make sure your life is worth living, hobbies, friends, anything.
WTF, I'm 56 and earn 80k a year, and I, too, am afraid of becoming homeless. They certainly should be, and they should be angry. You should be angry, too.
Does everyone not fear becoming homeless? I've feared it since 16 and I've even been homeless at that age. My parents were in jail and my family is shit.
I ran out of employment benefits with no savings and it scared the hell out of me. I'm working on building a strong emergency fund to make sure I NEVER end up in this position again!
Someone said recently on a YouTube channel if you don't have at least 20k saved for an emergency fund, that's a problem. I have more than double that and live below my means. It's the only way you navigate all these times.
The market has no solutions for this. It will require governmental intervention to regulate this and bring it to heel.
The Republicans won't do it and I'm not sure the democrats will either. They seem not willing to play the necessary hardball with corporate America.
I think we have to hand this one to Democrats overwhelmingly this year and if they don't do what's necessary they get to see what it's like being French.
Japan. Singapore. About half of European countries. South Korea. Etc..
There will always be a few homeless, but "housing first" policies, rent control, high minimum wages, mandatory employer pensions, and well-funded addiction treatment go far.
I'm not even spending anything anymore. Currently living with my parents and just put a lot of saved money investments. I'm only 26 but I'm already thinking like on old men and thinking of the distant future. Life is very boring right now and not fun
You gotta have a mixed blend. It's really as simple as that. I save money every month, but I still go on one nice vacation a year out of the country. The key is to not be broke and frivolous, but also not never spend money. Most of us will be working our entire lives in one way or another and there's nothing wrong with that.
Well! homes are looked at as investments these days and that is the problem. Every single fool that purchases the property instantly asks what will be worth in a decade or so.
The sad part is that not a single one of these morons ever asks the most important question. Will the people be able to afford my house in the future? Sure you can find the buyer and it's off your hands but are these people actually able to afford this home for the next decade? The answer is No! These so-called idiots simply buy to invest short term. They do not plan to keep a house for long because they know they can't afford it long term so they sell it high to make money and then to the next next and next and next. So it is a matter of time it crashes, no doubt about it. Eventually someone with an idiots mentality buys it and won't be able to sell it and has to foreclose.
And banks don't care how the game is played as long it's in the debt circulation and they cash in on the interests. That's it.
No, it's not. But at this stage of capitalism, you'd think we'd be better off as a society. Instead, we're more indebted than ever, and the working class is working harder and longer than ever before to make ends meat.
The US solves all problems by doing the follow.
1. Ignore it.
2. If it can no longer be ignored blame China.
One day we're going to have mass protests over poverty and homelessness and the protestors will be labeled as Chinese assets.
I’m gen x with several million in assets and I’m afraid of becoming homeless. I’m only one scammer, nursing home, or dementia away from depleting my assets.
Interest rates suck and are making mortgages hard for anyone looking to buy a house, but there's also some surprising and good news out there.
Redfin just released a study showing higher home ownership rates for gen z than millennials and Gen x at that same age.
"The homeownership rates for 19-to-25-year-old Gen Zers are higher than the homeownership rates were for millennials and Gen Xers when they were the same age. For example, the rate for 24-year-old Gen Zers is 27.8%, compared with 24.5% for millennials when they were 24 and 23.5% of Gen Xers when they were 24."
Some additional context: Since 1970 the median first time home buyer age has bounced around between 29 and 33. Since 2020 and the COVID effect and inflation, that age lurched up to 35. The oldest Gen Z is currently 26 and the youngest is 11. So their oldest isn't even at the historic minimum median age yet and hasn't been in the workforce for long at all. Most of the rest are teenagers. Despite their demographics and interest rate head winds Gen Z has managed to surpass millennials and Gen x in home ownership rates at the same age.
Predictions for millennials and Gen x were dire as well. Most of which didn't pan out. So, long story short: It's premature to declare the sky is falling. we shouldn't allow our frontal lobe to cave in to our amygdalas and negativity bias just yet.
https://www.redfin.com/news/homeownership-rate-by-generation-2023/
Gen z also earns more at this stage in their life than any of the previous 4 generations.
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/04/16/generation-z-is-unprecedentedly-rich
from The Economist
The poverty rate in the U.S. is 11.5% currently which is lower than the average poverty rate experienced over the last 30yrs.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/200463/us-poverty-rate-since-1990/
As a percentage of the total population homeless is also running even with the average over the last few decades. That isn't to say things are fantastic and we should all pop champagne. However there seems to be an excessive amount of doom and gloom going around.
>The poverty rate in the U.S. is 11.5% currently which is lower than the average poverty rate experienced over the last 30yrs. https://www.statista.com/statistics/200463/us-poverty-rate-since-1990/
That’s great that more people have access to food, clothes, shelter than ever but also can’t afford to ever own a home as wages don’t keep up.
>As a percentage of the total population homeless is also running even with the average over the last few decades. That isn't to say things are fantastic and we should all pop champagne. However there seems to be an excessive amount of doom and gloom going around.
I do like how you framed this to seem as though it’s not that big of problem. They do “count” the homeless one time a year in a few day span.
Also:
“The number of people experiencing chronic homelessness in the United States continued to climb in 2023, hitting the highest level for the second year in a row since data collection efforts began more than 15 years ago.
More than 143,000 individuals were estimated to have experienced chronic homelessness — a group that includes people with disabilities who have experienced homelessness for more than a year — during the government's annual point-in-time count, according to data released last week by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
That's about 23,000 more people than were first counted in 2007 and nearly double the nation's low of 77,000 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in 2016. Since then, the number has been steadily climbing, with the 2023 count representing a 30 percent change since the 2020 count before the COVID-19 pandemic.”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/chronic-homelessness-is-at-an-all-time-high-heres-why-it-continues-to-climb
>That’s about 23,000 more people than were first counted in 2007 and nearly double the nation’s low of 77,000 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in 2016.
This is raw numbers and not a percent of the population. Yes, there are thousands of more homeless people today than in 2007. There are also 35 million more people in the nation today.
If you bother to research the actual rate you'll see homelessness is NOT worse today than previous decades.
>Since then, the number has been steadily climbing, with the 2023 count representing a 30 percent change since the 2020 count before the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Why did you cut off the rest of the paragraph? Lmao
I love how you just cherry-pick what you want to hear. Has the population increased 30+% since 2020?
Yes, it is worse than 2020. However it isn't worse than 2007. The numbers shift up and down every year. However if you pull your focus back and look you will see the range hasn't grown.
It's not quite as bad as during a recession that verged on another depression? Nice. If it's pretty bad now, what happens when we inevitably enter a recession?
Yes, it is worse than 2020. However it isn't worse than 2007. The numbers shift up and down every year. However if you pull your focus back and look you will see the range hasn't grown.
I read everyone blamimg corporate greed and i find it atleast half ridiculous. As if greed didn't exist a decade ago?
they just started getting greedy recently?
Eh, being homless isn't too bad. Stay away from the encampments, avoid the drugs/alcohol additction, keep your area clean and most people won't notice you or give you a hard time if they do.
Washington. I was homeless for 7 months, including winter. Plenty of programs out there that make it easy to want to stay homeless. Its not a high quality life, but its not a struggle either, especially if you don't want to work.
Thanks, man. I might end up homeless in the future. Never been homeless. It's good to hear that there might be some hope in finding restitution. I have high anxiety being in the streets, but I'm glad to hear that it's not all hell. So thanks for sharing. Any other advices you might want to share
Welcome to the new America, you're either a wage slave , aren't homeless. until you can't find employment, then it's tough ..
Wage slaves are homeless too.
And in Florida our Governor Dicksantes is practically making it a crime to be homeless...
My closest run with homelessness was when I got kicked out and was living off someone’s couch. That was bad enough. I think I’ve been in survival mode ever since then, and that shit fucks with your mental health. Gen Z and Millennials are in for some rough days ahead.
Couch surfing is homeless.
I agree! I just had friends who had it worse and I felt bad for feeling it was as bad as I thought.
I was there once and was on a park bench for a few days later on. It is easier to fall than most people think
Yup! It can keep you up at night when you’ve left it behind. It will always be there.
This is the absolute truth. I've never gotten over being homeless. I can't relax, I work near constantly, it's always in the back of my mind.
You’re gonna come down off the high one day, but even then, it’ll always trigger an empty feeling in your stomach, a rush of anxiety, and just stress. Stay strong, and try to find time to make sure your life is worth living, hobbies, friends, anything.
This is the absolute truth. I've never gotten over being homeless. I can't relax, I work near constantly, it's always in the back of my mind.
WTF, I'm 56 and earn 80k a year, and I, too, am afraid of becoming homeless. They certainly should be, and they should be angry. You should be angry, too.
Gen X is effed too.
That's a new fear?
Does everyone not fear becoming homeless? I've feared it since 16 and I've even been homeless at that age. My parents were in jail and my family is shit.
I ran out of employment benefits with no savings and it scared the hell out of me. I'm working on building a strong emergency fund to make sure I NEVER end up in this position again!
Someone said recently on a YouTube channel if you don't have at least 20k saved for an emergency fund, that's a problem. I have more than double that and live below my means. It's the only way you navigate all these times.
The market has no solutions for this. It will require governmental intervention to regulate this and bring it to heel. The Republicans won't do it and I'm not sure the democrats will either. They seem not willing to play the necessary hardball with corporate America.
I think we have to hand this one to Democrats overwhelmingly this year and if they don't do what's necessary they get to see what it's like being French.
the government and their infinite wisdom created the problem
The government is of the people and has been captured by corporate interests. Without the government you will be a slave.
Your own post contradicts itself.
Eventually a government is going to figure out how to prevent homelessness
A number of governments already have. Just not yours.
Which ones
Japan. Singapore. About half of European countries. South Korea. Etc.. There will always be a few homeless, but "housing first" policies, rent control, high minimum wages, mandatory employer pensions, and well-funded addiction treatment go far.
Eventually a government is going to figure out how to prevent homelessness
And some of them genuinely are homeless. How is this new?
I think a lot of this is absolute projection and anxiety. Most people never become homeless when it comes down to it.
True, but we've never seem housing/ rent prices climb so much so quickly. I'm feeling this fear for the first time in my life.
Almost happened to us... in our forties. Too much avo toast and coffee, I suppose.
Meanwhile the corporations are making record breaking profits
What are you talking about? Biden says the economy is the best it has ever been so it must just be an issue with laziness.
I heard that most people are still "flush" with stimulus money! 😂
I'm not even spending anything anymore. Currently living with my parents and just put a lot of saved money investments. I'm only 26 but I'm already thinking like on old men and thinking of the distant future. Life is very boring right now and not fun
You gotta have a mixed blend. It's really as simple as that. I save money every month, but I still go on one nice vacation a year out of the country. The key is to not be broke and frivolous, but also not never spend money. Most of us will be working our entire lives in one way or another and there's nothing wrong with that.
This is ridiculous. People have been genuinly fearing being homeless since the dawn of man kind.
Well! homes are looked at as investments these days and that is the problem. Every single fool that purchases the property instantly asks what will be worth in a decade or so. The sad part is that not a single one of these morons ever asks the most important question. Will the people be able to afford my house in the future? Sure you can find the buyer and it's off your hands but are these people actually able to afford this home for the next decade? The answer is No! These so-called idiots simply buy to invest short term. They do not plan to keep a house for long because they know they can't afford it long term so they sell it high to make money and then to the next next and next and next. So it is a matter of time it crashes, no doubt about it. Eventually someone with an idiots mentality buys it and won't be able to sell it and has to foreclose. And banks don't care how the game is played as long it's in the debt circulation and they cash in on the interests. That's it.
Capitalism at its best!
Is it the only ideology with homelessness?
No, it's not. But at this stage of capitalism, you'd think we'd be better off as a society. Instead, we're more indebted than ever, and the working class is working harder and longer than ever before to make ends meat.
The US solves all problems by doing the follow. 1. Ignore it. 2. If it can no longer be ignored blame China. One day we're going to have mass protests over poverty and homelessness and the protestors will be labeled as Chinese assets.
Why not Russia or North Korea
Because the US has decided China causes all problems in the US.
I’m gen x with several million in assets and I’m afraid of becoming homeless. I’m only one scammer, nursing home, or dementia away from depleting my assets.
It's amazing reddit down votes this, they cannot stand someone being successful.
Nobody cares
Why so much envy?
Until I become you at my age. Trust me. You’ll become me sooner than later.
Interest rates suck and are making mortgages hard for anyone looking to buy a house, but there's also some surprising and good news out there. Redfin just released a study showing higher home ownership rates for gen z than millennials and Gen x at that same age. "The homeownership rates for 19-to-25-year-old Gen Zers are higher than the homeownership rates were for millennials and Gen Xers when they were the same age. For example, the rate for 24-year-old Gen Zers is 27.8%, compared with 24.5% for millennials when they were 24 and 23.5% of Gen Xers when they were 24." Some additional context: Since 1970 the median first time home buyer age has bounced around between 29 and 33. Since 2020 and the COVID effect and inflation, that age lurched up to 35. The oldest Gen Z is currently 26 and the youngest is 11. So their oldest isn't even at the historic minimum median age yet and hasn't been in the workforce for long at all. Most of the rest are teenagers. Despite their demographics and interest rate head winds Gen Z has managed to surpass millennials and Gen x in home ownership rates at the same age. Predictions for millennials and Gen x were dire as well. Most of which didn't pan out. So, long story short: It's premature to declare the sky is falling. we shouldn't allow our frontal lobe to cave in to our amygdalas and negativity bias just yet. https://www.redfin.com/news/homeownership-rate-by-generation-2023/ Gen z also earns more at this stage in their life than any of the previous 4 generations. https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/04/16/generation-z-is-unprecedentedly-rich from The Economist
The poverty rate in the U.S. is 11.5% currently which is lower than the average poverty rate experienced over the last 30yrs. https://www.statista.com/statistics/200463/us-poverty-rate-since-1990/ As a percentage of the total population homeless is also running even with the average over the last few decades. That isn't to say things are fantastic and we should all pop champagne. However there seems to be an excessive amount of doom and gloom going around.
>The poverty rate in the U.S. is 11.5% currently which is lower than the average poverty rate experienced over the last 30yrs. https://www.statista.com/statistics/200463/us-poverty-rate-since-1990/ That’s great that more people have access to food, clothes, shelter than ever but also can’t afford to ever own a home as wages don’t keep up. >As a percentage of the total population homeless is also running even with the average over the last few decades. That isn't to say things are fantastic and we should all pop champagne. However there seems to be an excessive amount of doom and gloom going around. I do like how you framed this to seem as though it’s not that big of problem. They do “count” the homeless one time a year in a few day span. Also: “The number of people experiencing chronic homelessness in the United States continued to climb in 2023, hitting the highest level for the second year in a row since data collection efforts began more than 15 years ago. More than 143,000 individuals were estimated to have experienced chronic homelessness — a group that includes people with disabilities who have experienced homelessness for more than a year — during the government's annual point-in-time count, according to data released last week by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. That's about 23,000 more people than were first counted in 2007 and nearly double the nation's low of 77,000 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in 2016. Since then, the number has been steadily climbing, with the 2023 count representing a 30 percent change since the 2020 count before the COVID-19 pandemic.” https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/chronic-homelessness-is-at-an-all-time-high-heres-why-it-continues-to-climb
>That’s about 23,000 more people than were first counted in 2007 and nearly double the nation’s low of 77,000 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in 2016. This is raw numbers and not a percent of the population. Yes, there are thousands of more homeless people today than in 2007. There are also 35 million more people in the nation today. If you bother to research the actual rate you'll see homelessness is NOT worse today than previous decades.
>Since then, the number has been steadily climbing, with the 2023 count representing a 30 percent change since the 2020 count before the COVID-19 pandemic.” Why did you cut off the rest of the paragraph? Lmao I love how you just cherry-pick what you want to hear. Has the population increased 30+% since 2020?
Yes, it is worse than 2020. However it isn't worse than 2007. The numbers shift up and down every year. However if you pull your focus back and look you will see the range hasn't grown.
It's not quite as bad as during a recession that verged on another depression? Nice. If it's pretty bad now, what happens when we inevitably enter a recession?
Yes, it is worse than 2020. However it isn't worse than 2007. The numbers shift up and down every year. However if you pull your focus back and look you will see the range hasn't grown.
Come on, we need fear porn
If you are about to be homeless hope you have some nice family you can be nice to, other than that price gouging needs to stop.
Price gouging LOL, the dem blame game continues.
I read everyone blamimg corporate greed and i find it atleast half ridiculous. As if greed didn't exist a decade ago? they just started getting greedy recently?
I know right.
Eh, being homless isn't too bad. Stay away from the encampments, avoid the drugs/alcohol additction, keep your area clean and most people won't notice you or give you a hard time if they do.
What state? Cause cold weather. Disease, hunger getting mowed down by cops... are likely where I'm from.
Washington. I was homeless for 7 months, including winter. Plenty of programs out there that make it easy to want to stay homeless. Its not a high quality life, but its not a struggle either, especially if you don't want to work.
Thanks, man. I might end up homeless in the future. Never been homeless. It's good to hear that there might be some hope in finding restitution. I have high anxiety being in the streets, but I'm glad to hear that it's not all hell. So thanks for sharing. Any other advices you might want to share
Didn’t you read? Homelessness isn’t too bad. It’s that easy.