[joesmo]

$40k a year is a living wage. Even $32k is a decent living wage (yes, even in the bay area). To me, these figures sound like we're too unimaginative as a society in figuring out better systems of distributing this money. I know people in the bay area living on a lot less and getting by ok. If we actually gave the homeless money instead of making them jump through hoops like zoo animals for the smallest of concessions, a bed here, some food stamps there, we could potentially start making a dent in this problem and giving people real chances. It's been demonstrated over and over again that this is something that can work. Why not give it a shot and start helping people find affordable government housing instead of perpetually squandering the money in the inefficient ways we have been doing?

[rayiner]

There are two kinds of homeless people. Most people who are ever homeless get back on their feet relatively quickly, and are not homeless again. They are cheap for the system to handle, and cash payments would do the trick. But most homeless people are the chronic homeless. They're likely outside the range on the bell curve of people who can take care of themselves. Cash payments won't help them--the government has to take over in a more interventionist role.

[lukeschlather]

> But most homeless people are the chronic homeless.

That's wildly inaccurate. Chronic homeless account for less than a fifth of the homeless population.

* https://www.usich.gov/goals/chronic

* Look at "Key findings": https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2015-AHAR-P...

[Asooka]

Interesting, but are the rest 80% homeless for long, or is it just that they are homeless for a bit, but as soon as they get back on their feet, someone else is already homeless?

[lukeschlather]

From the Definition of Terms section in the second link:

> Chronically Homeless Individuals are homeless individuals with disabilities who have either been continuously homeless for a year or more or have experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years.

[joesmo]

So you're saying that there are no homeless people that can take care of themselves but can't get back on their feet quickly. Seems unlikely.