[jokoon]

I'm not american and yahoo has a cookie wall.

How exactly are those people managing to survive? My country has welfare that allows people to pay rent and food. I'm not really aware of how american welfare works, but I guess it varies a lot between states?

[gexla]

Work multiple jobs. Or a full time job and gig work on the side. Share rent with others. Rent a room. I believe a chunk of the flooding deaths in the NY flooding was from people living in illegal arrangements (basements setup as rental space.) People find ways as part of a story which stats don't tell.

ETA: Where there's a demand, markets open up. In the Philippines, many people live in "boarding houses" which is a small single room and shared bathroom. In one place I visited, it was a dirt floor, light bulb hanging from the ceiling and a bed which was little bigger than a cot.

[reilly3000]

Below the federal poverty line people can receive food assistance, and sometimes there are state or local programs that help with rent. In general people just work more, borrow more, and live in a perpetual state of financial peril. It’s awful, and even if the situation improves, living like that leaves a lasting blow to the psyche.

[gexla]

I have never had these benefits but I imagine this isn't something which happens on short notice. One of the issues with unemployment was that people would sometimes have to wait for months to get their assistance. When employers received pandemic loans for payroll, the choice was to brush off the employer (against unemployment rules) or take your chances that the employer wouldn't just have to let you go again after X months only to face the unemployment process all over again. The narrative around this was that people would rather stay home and get paid rather than working for their money, but the reality was a bit more complicated.

[jquery]

Room sharing in my experience of being poor is the most common way to make it.

[thevagrant]

I don't know answer but these spring to mind: Debt, overtime, multiple jobs, overcrowding, subletting rooms.

[DoreenMichele]

America also has a lot of homelessness. Yes, there are homeless people with jobs, contrary to what most people seem to think.

[ravenstine]

People underestimate the percentage of homeless who live in their cars and shower at the gym, and aren't just the unwashed "bums" sleeping on benches.

[Ekaros]

That is one solvable group, they just need reasonably priced housing in reasonable locations. The mentally ill and substance abusers(including alcohol), is much more complex issue.

And then there is probably small group you will never house, because they prefer to be homeless. Still doesn't mean the two other groups should not be solved. It is just that there is no political will to build enough housing or solve the systematic issues.

[incone123]

Also people who are street homeless or living in their cars, but in many cases still holding down jobs.