Homelessness Is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns.

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Housing scholar Gregg Colburn and data journalist Clayton Aldern seek to explain the substantial variation in rates of homelessness apparent in cities across the United States.

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Abstract

Using accessible statistics, the researchers test a range of conventional beliefs about what drives the prevalence of homelessness in a given city—including mental illness, drug use, poverty, weather, generosity of public assistance, and low-income mobility—and find that none explain why, for example, rates are so much higher in Seattle than in Chicago. Instead, housing market conditions, such as the cost and availability of rental housing, offer a more convincing explanation.

Authors

Gregg Colburn

Clayton Aldern

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To help readers understand the different rates of homelessness across cities, the authors of the book "Homelessness is a Housing Problem" develop a typology of cities based on their population growth and housing supply

The book "Homelessness is a Housing Problem" shows that housing market conditions, such as high rent prices and low vacancy rates, are the best predictors of regional homelessness rates. Other common explanations, such as drug use, mental illness, poverty, and local politics, do not explain the variation in homelessness rates across different regions.

Individual risk factors like poverty cannot explain the variation in homelessness rates across different regions. Contrary to popular belief, homelessness rates are actually lower in areas with higher poverty rates.

Homelessness rates vary significantly across the US. The book "Homelessness is a Housing Problem" explores the reasons for this variation and proposes policy solutions tailored to different regions.

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