Consider the following hypothetical:
One night, a homeless man breaks into your home. He does not harm anyone but the event is very disturbing for you and your family. The man is not mentally well.
You have two choices:
- Have the man arrested and sent to jail. He may spend some time there, but will eventually be back on the street. This will cost you $97. There is a 2% chance you will have some run-in with this man in the future.
- Have the man taken to a cheap, but secure and clean apartment where he will have a meal and a place to sleep. He will stay there. This will cost you $35. There is a 1% chance you will have some run-in with this man in the future.
Which do you choose?
It would cost $20B to end homelessness. That's $132/year from each adult American who is in middle class or greater. Per that article, apparently it's much cheaper to provide permanent supportive housing per homeless person per year than pay for all the other costs the homeless cause a society to incur. ($12,800 v. $35,578; I used those numbers to calculate the hypothetical amounts: these numbers divided by 365.) The housing would not be extravagant. Something very simple yet comfortable and secure.
Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults are in the middle to upper class. That's 152,397,000 people who can probably afford to pay $132. Would you pay that amount each year to not see any more homeless camps, or any of the other inconveniences and crime that come from homelessness?
I would.
