Many systemic challenges rooted in classism, racism, and sexism that harm individuals and families put people at greater risk of becoming homeless at some point in their lifetime.
The severe shortage of affordable housing — particularly housing that is affordable to people with the lowest incomes — is the number-one driver of California’s homelessness crisis. For Californians with the very lowest incomes — those categorized as “extremely low-income” under the definition used for most state and federal housing policies — there were only 23 housing units that were affordable and available for every 100 renter households as of 2020. Statewide, an estimated 1.2 million new affordable homes are needed by 2030 to meet the housing needs of Californians with low incomes.
Because affordable housing is in such short supply in California, many renters with low incomes must pay much more than they can afford for housing, so that even a minor financial emergency can cause them to be unable to cover the rent and face the risk of eviction and homelessness. Black and Latinx renters are especially likely to face unaffordable housing costs, reflecting the effects of explicitly and implicitly racist policies and practices in housing, employment, and other arenas.
Other factors have also contributed to California’s homelessness crisis, including the decades-long trend of stagnant wages for lower-wage workers and past failure to fund adequate mental and behavioral health services to meet needs in the community. The shortage of deeply affordable housing, however, is a fundamental driver of the crisis. Source
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