Homelessness Essay

Throughout the entire history of human civilization, the prevalence of homelessness has been a challenge to every nation. It might be depressing to learn that no countries today have eradicated homelessness, but the human race is never stopped from trying harder than before to tackle this prolonged issue. As the two leading economic powers, America and China have to face the challenge of reducing homelessness. According to a report written by Nation Coalition for the Homeless, “a study done by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty which states that approximately 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given year” in America alone (National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009). The number of homeless people appears to be even more astonishing in China, surpassing 200 million according to a rough estimate. Due to the frustrating condition, both counties have been trying to improve their homeless service systems as their economy keeps growing. This paper intends to compare the Chinese homeless facilities against their counterparts in America from various aspects, including the major reasons leading to high homelessness rates, qualifications needed to receive assistance in a shelter, services provided in the shelters, and new solutions proposed to further tackle this significant societal issue. The paper also aims at facilitating the shelters in two nations to learn from each other in the hopes of providing the homeless with services of better quality.
To reduce homelessness, it is crucial to analyze the deep reasons leading to homelessness. Given that the U.S and China embrace radically different social ideologies, it is plausible to infer that the two counties are confronted with different social and political causes that may lead to homelessness.
We start by analyzing the status quo of America’s homelessness, whose causes have changed dramatically throughout the years. Sara. K, a blogger who