U.S. homelessness crisis getting worse: NYT

NEW YORK, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Shelters across the United States are reporting a surge in people looking for help, with wait lists doubling or tripling in recent months, reported The New York Times (NYT) last week.

"The number of homeless people outside of shelters is also probably rising," said the report. "Some of them live in encampments, which have popped up in parks and other public spaces in major cities from Washington, D.C., to Seattle since the pandemic began."

And inflation is compounding the problem: rent has increased at its fastest rate since 1986, putting houses and apartments out of reach for more Americans, according to the newspaper.

"The crisis means more people do not know where they will sleep tonight. Living in the streets, people are exposed to more crime, violence and bad weather, including extreme heat," said the report.

The origins of the current homelessness crisis go back decades to policies that stopped the United States from building enough housing, and seven million extremely low-income renters currently cannot get affordable homes, it added.