WASHINGTON (Dec 29): There was a record 18% rise in homelessness in the US in the last year, driven by factors like unaffordable housing, high inflation, systemic racism, natural disasters and rising immigration, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development said.

The problem of homelessness has been getting worse in the US, with commonplace sightings in many cities of destitute people living in the open, with tents pitched on city sidewalks. The federal and state governments have pushed with divergent strategies to deal with the crisis.

A total of 771,480 people — or about 23 of every 10,000 people in the US — experienced homelessness in an emergency shelter, safe haven, transitional housing programme, or in unsheltered locations, according to data released.

Overall, the number of people experiencing homelessness increased by 18% between 2023 and 2024, the data showed. The previous such annual data released last year had shown a 12% rise in homelessness.

Between 2023 and 2024, children under the age of 18 were the age group that experienced the largest increase in homelessness, marking a 33% rise with 150,000 children experiencing the crisis, according to the data.

Black people, who made up 12% of the total US population and 21% of the US population living in poverty, represented 32% of all people experiencing homelessness, the data showed.

"Our worsening national affordable housing crisis, rising inflation, stagnating wages among middle- and lower-income households, and the persisting effects of systemic racism have stretched homelessness services systems to their limits," the Department of Housing and Urban Development said.

It also noted "additional public health crises, natural disasters that displaced people from their homes, rising numbers of people immigrating to the US, and the end to homelessness prevention programmes put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic."

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