THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

40,000 in the Reagan years (mid 1980s) to zero after the National
Housing Act was passed in September 1996.
Having a full-time job at minimum wage does not provide someone
a home anywhere in America. In 1996, the US Conference of Mayors
found that nation-wide 19% of the homeless population were
employed. Declining wages have put housing out of reach of many
workers: in no state can a full-time minimum wage earner afford the
costs of a one-bedroom unit at fair market rent.'4" In 45 states and the
District of Columbia, families would need to earn at least double the
minimum wage in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair
market prices. The fastest-growing segment of the homeless
population is families with children, now about 40% of the people
who become homeless. Requests for emergency shelter by families
with children in 29 US cities are increasing at a rate of 7% per year.
The same study found that 24% of the requests for shelter by
homeless families were being denied due to lack of resources. The net
result: children currently account for 27% of the total homeless
population, and their average age has been steadily dropping. While
in 1987, the average age of a homeless child in New York was nine
years old, as of 1992, it was down to four years old.
All this occurred before 1996, when the responsibility of the US
welfare system was transferred to the states and municipalities. On
the second anniversary of this welfare reform, the media and
politicians from both parties announced it a success due to large
declines in the welfare rolls, and an increase of recipients finding
employment. But an independent study released in December 1998
revealed that the number of children living in extreme poverty below
one-half of the poverty line of $6,401 per year for a family of three)
grew by 400,000 between 1995 and 1997. Many families are being
'bumped off the welfare lists through little or no fault of their own.
For example, a state-funded study of Utah families who were denied
assistance because of failing to participate in required activities found