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While I understand where the dissinters are coming from, I think that people have lived together for various reasons over the years and I'm not sure that they would have considered themselves homeless. Up until the last few years when people could get a house with no money down. it was not unusual at all for people to live with parents until they could save up the money for a down payment. When my parents were first married in the late 1930's, they lived with my dad's parents and I never heard them say that they were homeless. After I was born and my dad was serving in WWII, my mom took my older sister and me to live with my grandparents to enable us to live on dad's navy pay. Oh, horrors, I was a homeless child!
making the decision to spend your first married months in your parents' home in order to save money, or having extended family choose to live together as a means of saving money, or for family support while dad is gone with the military, is NOT the same as losing your job, then your home, and having to move into some other person's house because you can't afford your own place. Not the same.
So you think that my parents in the late 1930's, were just choosing to live with his parents to save money. You are aware of what was going on in that time frame? My point was not to downplay the seriousness of the situation, but I think alot of people have gotten weak/soft and are not aware that things have been a lot worse in the past. And passing off as my "dad gone with the military" when in fact he was on an aircraft carrier in the Japanese theater in friggin' WWII. That certainly couldn't be as bad as someone today who has lost their job. Also how do you know that all those people who are living in others home are doing so because of a lost job. Could it also be that they are choosing to do so to save for a down payment, or maybe they were irresponsible and ran up debts that they now cannot pay even though they still have a job. There are a multitude of reasons that people might be living with others and all do not include loss of job.
So you think that my parents in the late 1930's, were just choosing to live with his parents to save money. You are aware of what was going on in that time frame? My point was not to downplay the seriousness of the situation, but I think alot of people have gotten weak/soft and are not aware that things have been a lot worse in the past. And passing off as my "dad gone with the military" when in fact he was on an aircraft carrier in the Japanese theater in friggin' WWII. That certainly couldn't be as bad as someone today who has lost their job. Also how do you know that all those people who are living in others home are doing so because of a lost job. Could it also be that they are choosing to do so to save for a down payment, or maybe they were irresponsible and ran up debts that they now cannot pay even though they still have a job. There are a multitude of reasons that people might be living with others and all do not include loss of job.
So, you are using what your grandparent's had to do during the Great Depression as an example? It was the Great Depression! The fact that we can draw comparisons to what is going on right now to what people were doing during the Great Depression is not a sign that things are ok. maybe things have been worse. But that does not make what is going on now ok.
So, you are using what your grandparent's had to do during the Great Depression as an example? It was the Great Depression! The fact that we can draw comparisons to what is going on right now to what people were doing during the Great Depression is not a sign that things are ok. maybe things have been worse. But that does not make what is going on now ok.
No it was not my grandparents but my parents. I only brought that up to illustrate that multiple generations have lived together at times for over 60 years. This is not a new phenomenon. A little more current example -- about 15 years ago I had a male coworker(~30 yrs old) who lived with his family and his parents in their home to save so that they could purchase a home. And to the highlighted sentence, why is it not "OK", for people to live together? Please explain! I think practicing frugality is not only OK but is also the prudent thing to do. You also did not explain how you knew that all these people had lost their jobs. Please explain if you can!
No it was not my grandparents but my parents. I only brought that up to illustrate that multiple generations have lived together at times for over 60 years. This is not a new phenomenon. A little more current example -- about 15 years ago I had a male coworker(~30 yrs old) who lived with his family and his parents in their home to save so that they could purchase a home. And to the highlighted sentence, why is it not "OK", for people to live together? Please explain! I think practicing frugality is not only OK but is also the prudent thing to do. You also did not explain how you knew that all these people had lost their jobs. Please explain if you can!
I never said "all" the homeless people have lost their jobs. A LOT of people have lost their jobs and/or their homes. In case you hadn't heard, we're in the middle of an economic downturn that has resulted in a high unemployment rate. Connect the dots.
I never said "all" the homeless people have lost their jobs. A LOT of people have lost their jobs and/or their homes. In case you hadn't heard, we're in the middle of an economic downturn that has resulted in a high unemployment rate. Connect the dots.
Two points -- look back at the original post and I believe that you will see that the data is from 2006-2007, basically before the onslaught of job losses. In fact they say that they expect higher numbers now. Second point is that the subject of this thread is whether people living in homes can be considered homeless. If your elderly mother moves into your home, is she now counted among the homeless? Before long if that is the case we should have a report on the elderly homeless, since a good number wind up living with their children, if they are lucky.
Second point is that the subject of this thread is whether people living in homes can be considered homeless. If your elderly mother moves into your home, is she now counted among the homeless? Before long if that is the case we should have a report on the elderly homeless, since a good number wind up living with their children, if they are lucky.
I think you are failing to realize that being in someone else's home does not always mean that you have been invited to be a part of that household. I would imagine that in some cases, such as elderly parents moving in with their children or adult children/grandchildren moving in with their parents, the "guests" are being invited to be a member of the household on a (for the most part) permanent basis. I would not consider those people to be homeless. I once had a friend stay with me for a few weeks while waiting for an opening at a homeless shelter. During that time, they did have a bed (okay..it was a couch) to sleep on and protection from the elements, but were, by definition, homeless. I was not extending an offer for them to permanently move in to my household, just a temporary place to stay. I think there is a huge difference in the situations and whether or not the term "homeless" could be used to describe the people involved.
I think you are failing to realize that being in someone else's home does not always mean that you have been invited to be a part of that household. I would imagine that in some cases, such as elderly parents moving in with their children or adult children/grandchildren moving in with their parents, the "guests" are being invited to be a member of the household on a (for the most part) permanent basis. I would not consider those people to be homeless. I once had a friend stay with me for a few weeks while waiting for an opening at a homeless shelter. During that time, they did have a bed (okay..it was a couch) to sleep on and protection from the elements, but were, by definition, homeless. I was not extending an offer for them to permanently move in to my household, just a temporary place to stay. I think there is a huge difference in the situations and whether or not the term "homeless" could be used to describe the people involved.
And you think that there are a large number of cases like you describe? I think there may be a small number but the overwhelming majority are family situations. I think that that is the point the OP was trying to make -- that when you add ambiguous categories you inflate the numbers with cases that do not really say what the uninformed think they say. I think that accurate figures from present time data would be disturbing enough with out having to distort the data with people who are not truly homeless. Just my opinion because we don't have data for the truly homeless in 2009 yet.
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Also how do you know that all those people who are living in others home are doing so because of a lost job. Could it also be that they are choosing to do so to save for a down payment, or maybe they were irresponsible and ran up debts that they now cannot pay even though they still have a job. There are a multitude of reasons that people might be living with others and all do not include loss of job.
