The shortfall of social housing has built up over decades. Even after the building program is complete, the gap between housing supply and the numbers on waiting lists will still be huge.
Australia found shelter for more than 33,000 rough sleepers and other homeless people during the pandemic, but a coming surge in homelessness demands a comprehensive national housing strategy.
American citizens, even homeless ones, still have the right to vote.
AP Photo/Ben Margot
Debt-free property ownership is no longer a requirement for voting rights, but the idea remains that a person must have a residence in a particular community to be allowed to vote.
COVID-19 restrictions like physical distancing and cashless payment are making life more difficult for those already vulnerable.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
COVID-19 changed rough sleeping from a social issue into a public health one – but if numbers are to stay down, it needs to remain a political priority.
The hepatitis C virus was discovered in 1989 – research that’s now earned a Nobel Prize.
BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The 2020 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine goes to the discoverers of the hepatitis C virus. There’s an effective cure but homelessness and the opioid epidemic are driving a surge in infections.
The modular homes in Cambridge, UK.
Jimmy's Cambridge
When the moratorium on evictions ends, even more Australians will face housing insecurity and homelessness. Beyond the moral and health cases, there’s a powerful financial reason to end homelessness.
The fallout from COVID-19 for housing and homelessness just adds to the urgency of fixing the long-standing ills of the housing market. The well-being of Australia’s economy and people depends on it.
The CDC order may offer some tenants breathing room.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
High rents and insecurity are constant sources of financial and emotional stress for low-income women. They describe what it’s like struggling to survive and being one step away from being homeless.
Older women have been the fastest-growing group of homeless people in recent years. New research shows about 240,000 women aged 55 or older and another 165,000 women aged 45-54 are at risk.
Suspending homeless camp evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic is a start, but it is not enough. The problem is failed housing policies, not the pandemic.
The number of people made homeless is forecast to increase massively by the end of the year.
PA