Most are one paycheck away from homelessness
Published Dominion Post, Mar. 30, 2025. Reprinted with permission.
Homelessness and housing insecurity are not new issues; they date back to colonial days. However, current estimates suggest that 59% of Americans are one missed paycheck away from homelessness.
Between 2019 and 2023, the number of people experiencing homelessness increased by 23.3%. Over the course of 2023, the number of homeless in the U.S. reached an all-time high-- 970,806--far more than the number counted in the annual January census.
For 2024, HUD reported that West Virginia had 1,779 persons (out of a population of 1.77 million) experiencing homelessness, an increase of 25.6% over 2023. That growth exceeds the national average.
Think about how much more those numbers can grow in today’s economy. An accident leaves you unable to work, a family crisis requires you to travel, a medical diagnosis costs you thousands in co-pays and deductibles, the car you depend on for work breaks down, your furnace dies in winter. Corporate downsizing, company relocations to other countries, and tens of thousands of government employees losing their once-secure jobs also are going to have a profound effect on housing insecurity.
America and North Central West Virginia are experiencing an ongoing affordable housing shortage, another contributing factor. According to nerdwallet.com, rent should not exceed 30% of income. Average income in West Virginia is $2500 per month. The average rent in Morgantown is $1200 per month (zillow.com). While both are lower than national averages, this still exceeds the 30% target. After considering the cost of food, utilities, car payments, credit cards, insurance and student loans, how much is left to cover housing?
Aside from the affordable housing shortage, other causes of housing insecurity are wages and benefits (e.g., health insurance) that have not kept up with the cost of renting or buying a home, educational deficits, lack of economic opportunities, racism or any history of a criminal record.
Evidence-based solutions do exist to solve homelessness affecting communities. Housing First is a proven approach that prioritizes providing housing without conditions to unhoused people. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs says that basic needs like food and shelter must be satisfied before a person is able to attain any higher levels of satisfaction. With a roof over their head, a person then can seek employment or training or attend to any substance use or mental health issues. With supportive case management services, a client is more likely to succeed and remain housed.
In Morgantown, several other West Virginia cities and the State Legislature, we see a movement to criminalize homelessness through “camping bans.” This approach divorces the root causes of homelessness from its consequences. Seeing someone suffering and concluding it must be their own fault is not a solution. Adding legal sanctions, fines (that a person is incapable of paying) and threatening jail time for being unhoused will add to taxpayer expenses but also make it more difficult for people charged under these bans to seek employment due to criminal records. This approach also continues to ignore the factors that caused someone to be unhoused in the first place. West Virginia does not provide enough economic opportunities for employment, our education system is not preparing our youth for a successful future and the lack of treatment for addictions has now so overwhelmed the foster care system that a whole new generation facing housing insecurity looms in our future.
The League of Women Voters opposes camping bans in Morgantown and statewide. Continuing to deny the root causes of housing insecurity will never solve this problem. Dehumanizing or criminalizing our fellow citizens for being unhoused is no solution either. Moreover, we cannot expect churches and charities to assume the responsibilities that our government seeks to deny and make worse. Isn’t it time to look at the successes achieved elsewhere and learn to do better with our public resources?
For more information visit https://lwvmmhomeless.wixsite.com/home