In the wealthiest country on the planet, too many people still lack access to housing.
The pandemic revealed the full extent of the U.S. housing crisis. Where were the roughly 580,000 people living unhoused in 2020 to go under “stay at home” orders? And what about those facing eviction?
At the same time, the pandemic proved that federal intervention could ease the crisis. Eviction moratoria and unemployment relief helped keep more people housed, fed, and secure. But these initiatives ended too quickly.
Lifting federal pandemic eviction protections in 2021 put as many as 17 million people at risk of becoming unhoused. And last year, the number of unsheltered individuals increased by 3.4 percent from 2020 — and many times that in some areas.
— source counterpunch.org | Farrah Hassen | Jul 21, 2023