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Rural Homelessness
Homelessness is often assumed to be an urban phenomenon because homeless
people are more numerous, more geographically concentrated, and more visible
in urban areas. However, many people experience homelessness and housing
distress in America's small towns and rural areas. Some of what has been
learned in recent years about the causes, consequences, and strategies
for combatting homelessness in rural areas is summarized below. Resources
for further study are also provided.
DEFINITIONS AND DEMOGRAPHICS
Understanding rural homelessness requires a more flexible definition of
homelessness. There are far fewer shelters in rural areas; therefore,
people experiencing homelessness are less likely to live on the street
or in a shelter, and more likely to live in a car or camper, or with relatives
in overcrowded or substandard housing. Restricting definitions of homelessness
to include only those who are literally homeless - that is, on the streets
or in shelters - does not fit well with the rural reality, and also may
exclude many rural communities from accessing federal dollars to address
homelessness.
Studies
comparing urban and rural homeless populations have shown that homeless
people in rural areas are more likely to be white, female, married, currently
working, homeless for the first time, and homeless for a shorter period
of time (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1996). Other research indicates
that families, single mothers, and children make up the largest group
of people who are homeless in rural areas (Vissing, 1996). Homelessness
among Native Americans and migrant workers is also largely a rural phenomenon.
Findings also include higher rates of domestic violence and lower rates
of alcohol and substance abuse.
CAUSES
Rural homelessness, like urban homelessness, is the result of poverty
and a lack of affordable housing. In 1997, the nonmetropolitan poverty
rate was higher than the rate inside metropolitan areas (15.9% and 12.6%
respectively); it was also higher than the national poverty rate of 13.3%
(U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). Rural homelessness is most pronounced
in rural regions that are primarily agricultural; regions whose economies
are based on declining extractive industries such as mining, timber, or
fishing; and regions experiencing economic growth -- for example, areas
with industrial plants that attract more workers than jobs available,
and areas near urban centers that attract new businesses and higher income
residents, thereby driving up taxes and living expenses (Aron and Fitchen,
1996).
A
lack of decent affordable housing underlies both rural and urban homelessness.
While housing costs are lower in rural areas, so are rural incomes, leading
to a similarly high rent burdens. Problems of housing quality also contribute
to rural homelessness: in rural areas, 23% of poor homeowners households
and 27% of poor renter households live in inadequate housing, compared
to 17% and 22% in urban areas (Aron and Fitchen, 1996). Rural residential
histories reveal that homelessness is often precipitated by a structural
or physical housing problem jeopardizing health or safety; when families
relocate to safer housing, the rent is often too much to manage and they
experience homelessness again while searching for housing that is both
safe and affordable. Other trends affecting rural homelessness include
the distance between low-cost housing and employment opportunities; lack
of transportation; decline in homeownership; restrictive land-use regulations
and housing codes; rising rent burdens; and insecure tenancy resulting
from changes in the local real estate market (for example, the displacement
of trailer park residents) (Fitchen, 1992).
POLICY ISSUES
Efforts to end rural homelessness are complicated by isolation, lack of
awareness, and lack of resources. Helpful initiatives would include broadening
the definition of homelessness to include those in temporary and/or dilapidated
facilities, increasing outreach to isolated areas, and increasing networking
and awareness on a national level. Ultimately, however, ending homelessness
in rural areas requires jobs that pay a living wage, adequate income supports
for those who cannot work, affordable housing, access to health care,
and transportation.
RESOURCES:
- Aron,
Laudan Y. and Janet M. Fitchen. "Rural Homelessness: A Synopsis,"
in Homelessness in America, Oryx Press, 1996. Available for $43.50 from
the National Coalition for the Homeless, 1612 K Street, NW, #1004, Washington,
DC 20008-2802; 202/775-1322.
-
First, Richard, Beverly Toomey, and John Rife. Preliminary Findings
on Rural Homelessness, 1990. Available, for free, from 300 Stillman
Hall, 1947 College Road , 1050 Carmack Rd., Columbus, OH 43210; 614/292-4033.
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Fitchen, Janet. "On the Edge of Homelessness: Rural Poverty and
Housing Insecurity," Rural Sociology 57 (1992) 173-93. Available
for $20.00 from Professor Raybel Burdge, Rural Sociological Society,
Dept. of Sociology, Arntzen Hall, Room 510, Western Washington University,
Bellingham, WA 98225-9081; 360/650-7571.
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Kentucky Housing Corporation. Kentucky Homeless Survey- Preliminary
Findings, 1993. Available, for free, from the Kentucky Housing Corporation,
1231 Louisville Rd., Frankfort, KY 40601-6191; 502/564-7630 ext.348.
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U.S. Bureau of the Census. Poverty in the United States: 1997. Current
Population Reports, Series P60-201, 1998. Available, free, from U.S.
Bureau of the Census, Income Statistics Branch, Washington, DC, 20233-0001;
301/763-8576, or at http://www.census.gov/hhes/ww w/poverty.html.
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U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Economic and Community Development.
Rural Homelessness: Focusing on the Needs of the Rural Homeless, 1996.
Available, for free, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural
Housing Service, Rural Economic and Community Development, 14th St.
and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-1533; 202/690-1533.
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Vissing, Yvonne. Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Homeless Children and Families
in Small-Town America, 1996. Available for $16.96 (paperback) from The
University Press of Kentucky, 663 S. Limestone St., Lexington, KY 40508-4008,
800/839-6855.
Last
updated - March 1999
- National Coalition for the Homeless
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