the grade only

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Running head: HOMELESS PEOPLE

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HOMELESS PEOPLE

Qi Wang

PSY431

1/29/2020

Homeless People

Homelessness is a global problem in the current world. A global survey that way carried out by the United Nations in 2005 showed that around 100 million people across the world were homeless. Homelessness can be classified into three categories: 1) primary homelessness: people living on the streets, 2) secondary homelessness: people moving in temporary shelters of finding accommodation at friend’s place and 3) tertiary homelessness: people living in boarding houses without private bathrooms (Scott et al. 2016). However, the definition of homeless people differs from country to country. Most of the people that we see as beggars on the roads are homeless because they do not have the means to accommodate themselves under safe shelter. These people are not born homeless but their population comes from a very diverse background. Therefore, my research focused on discovering the concept of homelessness, finding out the issues that are faced by these homeless people and why they become homeless.

I found the information for my research mainly from websites, online interviews that were conducted for various people who shared their stories and Ted talk. It was not easy to listen to the stories of homeless people because it wrenches the heart of the audience however it is the bittersweet truth in our society that we should face. The purpose of my research is to spread awareness about the sufferings of homeless people so that there are several helping hands in this world because every contribution will make a difference.

The details that I learned during my research are:

1. Jordan had the homeless ratio of 0% which means that on average there is no human being that spends without adequate shelter or home.

2. In 2015, around 1.6 billion of the world’s population was homeless.

3. Moscow, Russia has a population of 12 million homeless people which makes up about 3.5% of the total Russian population.

4. According to demographics, the people who are homeless are single men where the Netherlands has reportedly 80% of the men homeless (Roleff, 1996). Moreover, the main reason why females are homeless is domestic violence.

5. Around one-quarter of the homeless people are children. And 42% of the homeless children fall under the age of 6 years old (Chittooran, 2013).

One aspect that surprised me was that based on demographics, most of the single men are homeless. This is surprising for me because men are responsible for in the family. They are the ones that have a higher chance to get an occupation than females for many companies still do not prefer women over men. Also, men are more independent and have freedom in their lives than women as females might face restrictions from their families in different countries. However, this information was against my expectations.

One piece of information that I believe everyone should know about this population is that there are 25% homeless children in this world out of which 42% are under the age of 6. This shows that most of the children are left unattended by their parents because they do not wish to raise them or do not have enough funds to afford their children. I want more people, especially parents who decide to abandon their children when they are born, to know this information about homeless people because children of the population are an important source for the country as their education and success can add to the economic growth whereas their homelessness can decline the reputation of a county. Together, through knowledge, awareness, and donations we can improve our world and decrease the population of homeless people.

References

Chittooran, M. (2013). Homeless Children in the schools. National Association of School Psychologists, 24-25. Hanson-Easey, S., Every, D., Tehan, B., Richardson, J., & Krackowizer, A. (2016). Climate Change, housing and homelessness: Report on the homelessness and climate change forum. Roleff, T. (1996). The Homeless: Opposing Viewpoints. Greenhaven Press.