US sees record 18% increase in homelessness in 2024 as buying a house becomes more expensive

Homelessness in the United States has become a rampant issue marking a major spike this year. According to US federal officials, homelessness created a new record and surged to 18.1 per cent in the year 2024. The officials maintained that frequent natural disasters and surge in migrants in some of the country can be seen as two main factors which contributed to the recent rise, CBS News reported.

According to the new report released by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than 770,000 people were counted as homeless this year, as per the tallies taken across the country. It is pertinent to note that the estimates likely undercounted the number of unhoused people given that it doesn’t include people staying with friends or family because they don’t have a place of their own.

The matter is concerning since the latest figure marked a significant jump from 12 per cent recorded in 2023. At that time, the officials maintained that the rise in rent and pandemic assistance were also major reasons for the hike. Last year, the figure was also driven by people experiencing homelessness for the first time.

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“More people than ever need help paying rent. More people than ever are becoming homeless for the first time,” the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a nonprofit focused on preventing and ending homelessness, wrote on X, following the release of the HUD report. The number overall represents that 23 out of every 10,000 people in the United States are homeless. Out of them, black people are overrepresented.

.@HUDgov’s latest report illustrates something the country already knows:

More people than ever need help paying rent.
More people than ever are becoming homeless for the first time.

Homelessness is up because our leaders haven’t addressed that. https://t.co/iOQBzCYYEp

— End Homelessness (@naehomelessness) December 27, 2024

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“No American should face homelessness,” HUD Agency head Adrianne Todman said in a statement, adding that the focus should remain on “evidence-based efforts to prevent and end homelessness.”

Significant rise in family homelessness

In the report, the department mentioned that the most concerning trend within the rise of homelessness is the fact that there has been a 40 per cent increase in family homelessness. The figures depicting unhoused families doubled in 13 communities impacted by migrants including Denver, Chicago and New York City. Meanwhile, it rose to 8 per cent in the remaining 373 communities.

The HUD also mentioned that nearly 150,000 children are experiencing homelessness on a single night. This represented a 33 per cent jump in figure from last year. The officials insisted that disasters played a crucial role in the rise of homelessness. “Increased homelessness is the tragic, yet predictable, consequence of underinvesting in the resources and protections that help people find and maintain safe, affordable housing,” Renee Willis, incoming interim CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said in a statement.

“As advocates, researchers, and people with lived experience have warned, the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to increase as more people struggle to afford sky-high housing costs,” Willis furthered. The authorities mentioned that the numbers also saw an increase because several communities are taking a hard line against homelessness.

Several Western states have been imposing bans on camping. The ban came following a 6 to 3 ruling last year by the US Supreme Court that found that outdoor sleeping bans don’t violate the Eighth Amendment. Meanwhile, several activists argued that punishing people who need a place to sleep would ultimately criminalize homelessness.

There were some positive figures shared in the report as well. Homelessness among veterans dropped 8 per cent to 32,882 in 2024. It was an even larger decrease for unsheltered veterans, declining 11 per cent to 13,851 in 2024. “The reduction in veteran homelessness offers us a clear roadmap for addressing homelessness on a larger scale,” Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said in a statement.

“With bipartisan support, adequate funding, and smart policy solutions, we can replicate this success and reduce homelessness nationwide. Federal investments are critical in tackling the country’s housing affordability crisis and ensuring that every American has access to safe, stable housing,” she added.

With inputs from agencies.