education, resources, and advocacy
education, resources, and advocacy
Dismantling the Narrative of Homelessness as a Choice
Homelessness is one of the most urgent and visible crises in the U.S. At the same time, homelessness is one of the most misunderstood and misdiagnosed crises. My work in housing and homelessness means that for those in my personal life, I am the expert on all things related to the housing crisis. In many of my conversations with folks about the housing crisis and homelessness, some version of a pervasive and harmful belief is shared. That belief is that people who are experiencing homelessness have chosen to be homeless. A more subtle but equally harmful version of this narrative is that people who are experiencing homelessness are homeless because of the choices they have made.
The idea that anyone would choose to live unsheltered without access to shelter, food, comfort, and safety is absurd on its face, yet this narrative persists. To understand why, we need to dig deeper to understand the root of this narrative.
The Root of the Narrative
The narrative of homelessness as a choice is rooted in a bootstrap mentality. This mentality, which is deeply embedded in American culture, suggests that individuals can achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and resilience, regardless of identity or socioeconomic factors. While on its surface this concept may appear motivational, it all too often inspires harmful and misguided beliefs about the causes of poverty and homelessness.
The bootstrap mentality implies that homelessness is a result of personal failings or poor choices rather than acknowledging the complex and systemic factors that contribute to homelessness. It perpetuates the belief that individuals experiencing homelessness are solely responsible for their circumstances and should be able to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” to overcome it. This narrative overlooks the structural inequalities and barriers that prevent many individuals from securing stable housing, such as lack of affordable housing, inadequate healthcare, systemic racism, and economic disparities.
Beyond systemic factors, unanticipated personal factors could cause someone to become homeless, including sudden job loss, medical emergencies, domestic violence, eviction, and family breakdowns. For instance, a family might face eviction due to rising rents or a sudden job loss that depletes their savings, leaving them without a safety net.
The Truth About Homelessness
The narrative that homelessness is a choice is based on flawed and incomplete logic. I want to share some examples of the incomplete logic that is used to uphold this narrative and attempt to fill in the gaps. One piece of evidence that is used to argue that people choose to be homeless is the fact that they continue to be homeless. The logic here is that if someone did not want to be homeless, they would get a job, save money, and find housing.
Get a job
A popular argument made by those speaking about homelessness from a bootstrap mentality is that people experiencing homelessness could end their homelessness if only they would get a job. In reality, more than a third of people experiencing homelessness are actively working and earning income. This fact contradicts the narrative that people are homeless because they don’t want to work and sheds light on a critical truth about the nature of homelessness: Homelessness is not a people problem, it is a systems problem.
“In reality, more than a third of people experiencing homelessness are actively working and earning income.”
Save money
Just as it is expensive to be poor in the U.S., it is also expensive to be unhoused. If you are living unsheltered without access to food, water, or a restroom, the amount of money you have in savings is going to be the last thing on your mind. There are several reasons why saving money is not a practical option for those experiencing homelessness, but a more critical issue is the challenge of finding and securing housing. Even with ample savings, individual and systemic barriers to housing faced by many unhoused folks make securing stable housing a nearly impossible feat.
Find housing.
The primary barrier to securing stable housing is the severe shortage of affordable housing options. The high demand for low-cost units often exceeds supply, leaving many individuals and families without sustainable housing options. Moreover, potential tenants who are unhoused frequently face discrimination from landlords and property managers, who may be unwilling to rent to someone without a prior address or stable employment. This discrimination is exacerbated by systemic issues such as credit score requirements and background checks, which can disproportionately affect those who have experienced periods of instability. For Black households, all of these barriers are compounded by the systemic racism that is deeply embedded in our country’s housing laws and practices.
Additionally, navigating the complex web of housing applications, eligibility criteria for subsidized housing, and long waiting lists can be overwhelming without a support network or access to necessary resources. Even if individuals manage to overcome these hurdles, they often encounter stringent regulations and bureaucratic red tape that further impede their ability to secure a stable living situation. All of these barriers to housing further support the fact that homelessness is not a result of individual shortcomings but rather a failure of our social and economic systems.
These are just a few examples of how blame is ascribed to people experiencing homelessness for their inability to “pull themselves up” and out of homelessness. By perpetuating the narrative that homelessness is solely a result of individual choices & shortcomings, we absolve ourselves of the responsibility to address the systemic issues that contribute to and perpetuate homelessness. To abandon the belief that homelessness is a choice means accepting the truth about homelessness, which is that due to a lack of affordable housing in the U.S., combined with a myriad of other highly influential social and systemic factors, it is alarmingly easy to become unhoused and extremely difficult to become housed once housing is lost.
What We Can Do
The most important step we can take to dismantle the narrative of homelessness as a choice is to spread awareness about the true causes of homelessness. Share what you learn and know. Advocate for policies that address the root causes of homelessness by increasing affordable housing and lowering barriers to housing. By challenging misconceptions and promoting understanding, we can foster empathy and support for effective solutions to homelessness. It’s crucial to recognize that homelessness is a complex issue influenced by a range of societal and systemic factors, and addressing it requires a multifaceted approach that goes beyond individual responsibility to encompass broader societal and systemic changes.
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