Why are people homeless? (And why it’s almost never a choice)
We hear it more often than you might expect.
“Why don’t they just get a job?”
“Why would someone choose to live like that?”
“If they really wanted help, wouldn’t they take it?”
These questions usually aren’t asked with cruelty. More often, they come from a set of innocent assumptions, or maybe it is something they heard once that went unchallenged; never forced to genuinely confront these assumptions face-to-face, with a real person living a real life.
Because the truth is: people are not homeless by choice. Not in the way most imagine.
Homelessness is not a single decision. It’s usually the result of a series of events, often compounding, often out of someone’s control.
In the U.S., the leading cause of homelessness is not substance use or mental health or some kind of personal failure; it’s the lack of affordable housing. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there is a shortage of more than 7 million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income renters¹.
At the same time, wages have not even come close to keeping pace with housing costs. A full-time worker earning minimum wage cannot afford a modest one-bedroom rental anywhere in the country at fair market rent².
This gap is especially acute in the Southeast, where wages tend to be lower and renter protections more limited. States like Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, have seen rising housing costs alongside persistent affordability challenges³.
That gap forces people into impossible trade-offs: until one disruption pushes things over the edge.
A medical emergency that leads to job loss. We hear many stories of homelessness begin with the COVID pandemic
Rent increases that outpace income.
Domestic violence that forces someone to leave quickly, without a safety net.
A disability without adequate support. Taking on full-time live in care of an elderly or sick relative who’s ultimate passing left gaps in work history and stable housing.
Research consistently shows that economic shocks, like job loss or unexpected expenses, are a major driver of homelessness, particularly for people already living paycheck to paycheck⁴.
And once housing is lost, getting it back is not simple.
Applications require addresses.
Jobs require stability.
Shelters may be full, or may not allow pets, partners, or personal belongings. Some require specific adherence to religious practices regardless of the religion of the individual.
On a single night in 2024, more than 650,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development⁵.
In the Southeast alone, tens of thousands of people experience homelessness on any given night. For example:
Florida reported over 30,000 individuals experiencing homelessness
Georgia reported over 12,000
North Carolina reported over 9,000
Tennessee reported over 10,000 individuals experiencing homelessness statewide⁵
In Tennessee, local data shows that homelessness is rising in several areas, particularly in urban centers like Nashville and Memphis, where housing costs have increased rapidly while wages have not kept pace⁶.
And these numbers are widely understood to be undercounts, especially for people living unsheltered or in temporary, unstable situations such as a car or a couch.
We also hear the idea that people “choose” to stay on the street instead of accepting help.
But research, and lived experience, tell a different story.
Studies have found that most people experiencing homelessness actively seek housing and services, but face barriers like long waitlists, strict program requirements, and lack of availability⁷.
What can look like “refusal” from the outside is often someone navigating impossible options. Options that don’t fit into the reality they are seeing everyday.
A shelter that requires someone to give up their animal.
A program that separates partners.
Rules that make it impossible to keep the few belongings they have left or to meet the guidelines to stay (requiring folks leave or arrive at very early hours which might conflict with other services).
When someone says no in those situations, it’s not a rejection of help. It’s a decision about what more they can, and cannot, lose.
This is something we see clearly in our work with people and their animals.
The bond between them is not small. It’s not optional. It’s often the most stable relationship in their life. Research has shown that people experiencing homelessness with pets report higher levels of emotional support and safety, and are significantly less likely to enter shelters that require separation⁸.
So when the only available “help” requires that bond to be broken, it’s not help at all. Many people make the only choice that feels possible: they stay together.
None of this means that every situation is the same. People experience homelessness for different reasons, and solutions are not one-size-fits-all.
But what we can say, with certainty, is this: No one chooses instability, uncertainty, and risk when a real, safe alternative is available to them.
What people do choose, over and over again, is dignity. Connection. Responsibility for the lives that depend on them.
Understanding this doesn’t solve homelessness on its own.
But it changes how we respond to it.
And that’s where real solutions begin.
Sources
National Low Income Housing Coalition. The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes (2024).
National Low Income Housing Coalition. Out of Reach Report (2024).
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. America’s Rental Housing Report (2023–2024).
National Alliance to End Homelessness. Barriers to Accessing Housing and Services (2023).
My Dog is My Home: Youth Homelessness and Animal Companionship Research Summary