For the first time after five consecutive years, there is an increase in poverty in the U.S., according to the latest Income and Poverty Report released in September 2021 by the U.S. Census Bureau.
There are more than 3.3 million people in the U.S. that are struggling to make ends meet, the report said.
“There are much more people struggling with homelessness now than before the pandemic,” said Lisa Trusas, recovery coach and warmer shelter manager in Milford.
Trusas said that there are several people living in storage units and that they are “the lucky ones. There are many others that don’t have any place to stay.”
PHOTO – © PIETRO ROSSINI, 2021
“Some people think that getting housing is easy. It’s not,” said Trusas. “Sometimes it takes years to get housing. And that’s awful because there are so many people struggling.”
It’s been more than 20 years since Trusas started working to help people in need.
“When I came from Virginia in 2009, I could never imagine meeting the homeless in Massachusetts,” said Trusas.
Homelessness has dramatically increased since 2019 from 567,715 to 580,466 units in 2020, according to the Annual Homeless Assessment Report released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
However, staying in a shelter is not an easy choice.
“Some people do not want to stay in a shelter,” said Trusas, “They fear losing their belongings. Some are young couples and don’t want to be separated.”
People that are not wrestling with homelessness or poverty can be totally unaware of the issue.
“People are shocked when they hear that there are homeless people living in their towns,” said Trusas.
Trusas highlights another disparity, “While single mothers can stay in a family shelter with their kids, that’s not possible for single fathers,” said Trusas. “Most often, we don’t know how to help these fathers with their children.”
Poverty among males increased from 9.4% in 2019 to 10.2% in 2020, while the poverty rate among females increased from 11.5% to 12.6%, according to the report.
Inequality between races also still persists.
The black population still registered the highest levels of poverty, although did not suffer significant changes between 2019 and 2020.
Also, the Asian poverty rate (8.1%) is not statistically different from 2019.
The pandemic affected non-Hispanic Whites as well causing an unprecedented poverty rate increase from to 8.2%.
Hispanic population documented the highest poverty rate.
The Hispanic poverty rate increased to 17%, around two percentage points higher than in 2019.
Another important factor that the report takes into account is age.
While poverty among people aged over 65 was not statistically different from 2019, the one registered among people aged from 18 to 64 increased to 10.4% from 9.4%, according to the report.
The poverty rate for people aged under 18 increased to 16.1% from 14.4%, said the report. That’s almost two percentage points higher than what was reported in 2019.
In a recent New York Times article, Ben Casselman and Jeanna Smialek, analyzing the Census report, said that more people would be affected by the pandemic without The COVID-19 relief plan made by the Biden administration.
More than 12,000 people would be living on the street.
More than 3.3 million people would live in poverty.