Homelessness Have you ever noticed people outside asking you for money on the train or on the street? Do most smell funny or are they barely dressed when it's cold outside? Those people are most likely homeless. Homelessness is the condition of a person living on the streets if they do not have a home. Homelessness occurs because many people cannot afford housing, do not have a job, receive a low income, are mentally ill, or have a drug addiction (Coalition for the Homeless). Homelessness affects society in various ways, making it a social issue. It causes economic recession, increased poverty and even family dysfunction. Since January 2002 the homelessness rate has increased by 69%. There are more than 52,400 homeless people sleeping in homeless shelters in New York City and thousands sleeping on the streets and on trains. More than 12,500 families, including 22,100 children, in New York City sleep in homeless shelters every day (Coalition). These families and individuals are now considered part of the percentage of those labeled as poverty-stricken. Poverty is the state of being extremely poor. Although most families are not exclusively poor, they are labeled as part of poverty because they cannot adequately provide for their family and themselves. Poor people are often unable to pay for housing, food, child care, health care, and education (The National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). The poor are a poverty statistic because unemployment increases and most of them receive low wages that barely help them survive. Difficult choices must be made when limited resources cover only some of these needs (National Coalition). Families with children are the fastest growing... middle of the paper... the main causes are low wages and lack of resources affordable housing and improving support services such as TANF, housing vouchers and health care ”. The National Coalition for the Homeless supports Students Against Hunger's theory of how to end homelessness. The National Coalition for the Homeless states that "the effort to ensure jobs pay a living wage, adequate support for those who cannot work, affordable housing, and access to health care will end homelessness." York." Coalition for the Homeless. NP, nd Web. 04 December 2013. "Overview of Homelessness in America." Homelessness in America. The National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness, nd Web. 03 December 2013. "Why do people Am I homeless?" National Coalition for the Homeless. The National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009. Web. 04 December. 2013.