Included in the homeless population are people who stay with friends or family for a short period of time and then decide to find shelter on the streets because of conflict with the people whom they are staying with, or because of personal pride. In the early 1980’s homelessness was determined to be a major problem in the United States. These years saw a steep rise in the number of homeless, due to poor economy and diminishing financial help for housing and income. The homeless consist of all types, races, and ages of people. A large portion of the homeless population consists of men but the number of women and children living on the streets is on the rise.

Current statistics show that women and children now make up around forty percent of the homeless population. One-third of homeless people abuse drugs and one-fourth are mentally ill. The current homeless population is mostly non-white and has an average age of the middle thirties. Veterans make up about o

High expense of child care and the increasing numbers of single mothers, the number of homeless women and children is on the rise. The lack of affordable housing forces many homeless people to dwell in more remote and isolated places and many homeless people who are available to be interviewed are too incoherent or paranoid to do so. An additional reason for so little being known about the homeless is that homelessness is such a controversial issue that many of the interviewers are biased and base the findings of their interviews on the personal beliefs. The direct effect of homelessness is that approximately 700,000 people are sleeping on the streets each night. Controversies on File points out that people stay away from areas where homeless people are because they do not wish to be confronted by panhandlers. People often feel threatened in areas where homeless people are because the homeless are often mentally disabled or on drugs. Areas inhabited by the homeless become run down and barren and businesses are hurt.

Controversies on file explains that during the past twenty years the government has imposed policies that were to encourage people to get off the streets by offering them help with health care and finding jobs and residence. Currently laws regarding the homeless have become much stricter. In October of 1999 Mayor Giuliani, of New York created a policy, which obligate the homeless to work in return for shelter. Later he had the homeless arrested if they refused shelter. These policies are an out of sight, out of mind solution. They make poverty a crime when it is often not the fault of the homeless people themselves. A see no evil; hear no evil tends to be the mentality of our society. We do not want to see the ugliness of our own country. We want to think of America the beautiful not America the country with 700,000 people that have no roof over their heads. Every time a person walks down the street and sees a homeless person, it is programmed into their heads to look away. Society thinks

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