Hunger, homelessness on the rise in most American cities in 2015: survey

Hunger and homelessness continued rising in most U.S. cities in the year of 2015, as low wages, poverty, lack of affordable housing kept plaguing the urban population amid a slow economic recovery, found a survey released Tuesday.

Sixty-six percent of the surveyed cities reported that the number of requests for emergency food assistance increased over the past year, according to the survey of 22 major U.S. cities conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM).

Among people requesting emergency food assistance, 67 percent were persons in families, 42 percent were employed, 23 percent were elderly, and 10 percent were homeless.

Meanwhile, the total number of homeless persons rose by an average of 1.6 percent in the cities surveyed, with 58 percent of the cities reporting an increase, and 42 percent reporting a decrease.

This year's survey covered major U.S. cities such as Baltimore of Maryland, Chicago of Illinois, Los Angeles of California, Philadelphia of Pennsylvania, Salt Lake City of Utah, San Francisco of California, Seattle of Washington, and Washington D.C.

Many cities in the survey struggled to meet the increasing demand for food and housing assistance, the survey found.

Across the surveyed cities, 23 percent of the demand for emergency food assistance is estimated to have been unmet.

In 47 percent of the surveyed cities, the emergency kitchens and food pantries had to reduce the quantity of food persons could receive at each food pantry visit or the amount of food offered per meal at emergency kitchens.

In 57 percent of the cities, they had to reduce the number of times a person or family could visit a food pantry each month. Also in 57 percent of the cities, facilities had to turn away people because of lack of resources, according to the survey.

Across the cities, an average of 25 percent of the demand for emergency shelter is estimated to have gone unmet. Because no beds were available, emergency shelters in 76 percent of the survey cities had to turn away homeless families with children. Shelters in 61 percent of the cities had to turn away unaccompanied individuals.

City officials identified low wages as leading cause of hunger, followed by poverty and high housing costs. They listed lack of affordable housing as the leading cause of homelessness, followed by poverty, mental health, and substance abuse.

The survey also found that more than half of the survey cities expect the problems of hunger and homelessness will continue to worsen next year.

Sixty-five percent of the cities expect requests for emergency food assistance to increase moderately next year, and none of the cities expect a decrease in requests, it found.

Officials in 50 percent of the cities expect the number of homeless families to increase moderately next year.

"Despite their efforts, these challenges persist in an economy that, while on the mend, is still lagging," Helene Schneider, mayor of Santa Barbara of California and co-chair of the USCM's Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness, told a telephone news conference on releasing the survey.

"Our federal policies must respond to the growing pressure that the national economy has placed on many localities," Schneider said. Enditem