This video says about itself:
This is a story on the working poor and homeless in the USA. This story went to air on the 4 Corners program, ABC TV, 13th of March 2017.
From daily News Line in Britain:
Saturday, 16 December 2017
‘WORKING POOR’ EVICTIONS SCANDAL
THE WORKING poor have now become the working homeless, as nurses, teachers and firefighters are among those being thrown out of their homes by bailiffs and then left languishing in squalid B&Bs and hostels by the local councils, a new Ombudsman’s report has exposed.
The special report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Michael King is aptly entitled, ‘Still No Place Like Home’. It shows that in 2016-17 nurses, taxi drivers, hospitality staff and council workers were amongst those who desperately contacted his office after being made homeless.
They turned to his office for help after the council left them languishing in squalid and unsafe temporary accommodation. Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: ‘The increasing cost of private rents has meant we have seen a shift towards more people in professions such as nursing, and their families, becoming affected.
‘Many of these families are being placed in poor quality accommodation, for periods significantly longer than the six-week legal limit. And we’re seeing signs the problems are growing more acute, particularly with an increase in the length of time families are having to stay in temporary accommodation.
‘More worrying still, we are finding that many families are not being told of their review rights when placed in unsuitable accommodation, so they have no information on how to challenge the decision and improve their circumstances.’
King was particularly critical of local authorities he had investigated that re-housed homeless families in damp, filthy and dangerous temporary homes. You do not have to look to Victorian fiction to see totally Dickensian housing conditions,’ he said.
In the report King sites a number of examples:
• A couple with two young children who spent 26 weeks in a single room in a B&B. Although they reported that the shower did not work and the room was infested with cockroaches, the council failed to ensure repairs were made.
• A mother whose baby had type 1 diabetes was placed in a dirty and unhygienic B&B room without access to cooking facilities. The baby contracted an infection and ended up in hospital. The hospital blamed the housing, saying the mother was unable to properly feed her baby.
• A disabled single parent with four children was put up in B&B accommodation for nearly two and a half years after her benefits were capped. The council ignored letters from medical professionals outlining concerns that living in the property was affecting the family’s health.
In 2016-17, the Ombudsman received around 450 complaints about homelessness.
Of those it investigated in detail, it found fault in seven out of ten cases.
HOMELESSNESS in England is a ‘national crisis’ and the Tory government is ‘unacceptably complacent’ about it, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said yesterday: here.
See also here.
Homelessness in England rises by 75% among vulnerable groups. The number of homeless cases involving someone suffering from a mental or physical illness has skyrocketed since 2010: here.
Huge health gap revealed between UK’s rich and poor. Report shows ‘devastating impact’ of deprivation on child health with poorest teens 70% more likely to visit A&E than their wealthier counterparts: here.
UK: Thousands to see in the New Year sleeping rough on the streets: here.
Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad says: more and more working poor people in the Netherlands. Work is no longer a remedy against poverty.
This is deplorable! Reminds me of where I had resided when I was homeless. The only upswing to this story was that the families were kept together. That was the only good thing! Here, they can separate families, depending on the circumstances.
Also, if you get stuck in the Social Services System, you either are not allowed to work, or you are allowed to work, but then your housing is compromised. It’s a no-win situation.
The only way I was able to get out of my situation was that I was able to collect disability and move in with a friend, or the housing facility that I was in for take up to 88% of what I would earn, and leave me $34 a month for food/necessities. No matter how you break it out, the system sucks!!!
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Thank you for this comment! The families stay together in Britain, but often in a narrow unhealthy space.
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It is so horrible, it just breaks my heart. 😦
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