Can a Universal Basic Income Help Address Homelessness?

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Existing policies are failing to address rising homelessness. 






 









In our home of Portland, Oregon, the homeless crisis seems to be getting deeper no matter what 
“solutions” we seem to throw at it. In her article of 11/18/22, Nadia Razzhigaeva asks the important question “can a universal basic income help address homelessness?

     OK… throwing money at everyone will not solve the problem all together. But enormous money is being spent on the homeless just in emergency room visits and policing and this is due to just being homeless and living on the streets, not illness alone. Remember, living on the streets is a perfect place for violent crimes and medical emergencies that may not have become emergencies with simple, regular physician visits. Now they cost multiples more at the emergency room. We can only solve this by providing more social housing and helping with rent control. The universal income will provide for basic needs and relieve the stigma of begging for money. With socialized housing we would finally see a decline of homelessness and get our communities back to where they were and how we want them to be. We would all be happier. Of course there are those with mental illness and drug addiction that will remain on the streets. However if we can really reduce the homeless population then it would be tremendously easier to police and maintain this smaller population and get them the care they need. 


     This basic income has been spoken about by politicians and even tried in other countries. Perhaps we can lead the way on this. 



Free Helpful Resources:


https://endhomelessness.org


https://cityteam.org




Sources:


Article by Nadia Razzhigaeva 


Razzhigaeva, N. & University of New South Wales. (2022, November 18). Can a universal basic income help address homelessness? phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-universal-basic-income-homelessness.html


Andrew Clarke, Can a basic income help address homelessness? A Titmussian perspective, Journal of Sociology (2022).  DOI: 10.1177/14407833221135986


Provided by University of New South Wales 







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