From having a home to being homeless is a process that most homeless people go through. This process includes living in inadequate conditions, being insecure, being houseless, and finally being roofless. Different institutions define different ranges of conditions as homeless; the European Union includes all of the above, whereas the United Nations does not include people living in inadequate conditions. Taiwan only defines homelessness as people living without a roof.
Homelessness and poverty are distinct conditions. While those living in poverty lack the resources to live a stable and secure lifestyle, some homeless are able to eat and function in daily life, and the majority can survive on very little money. The problem is that while the poor may have a place to live, the homeless do not. Individuals with low incomes up to a certain level are capable of receiving government financial support; however, for homeless individuals, their wages may be higher than average, some are illiterate, and many people are unaware that these benefits are available. Taiwan defines homeless communities as rough sleepers, whereas internationally, individuals without a fixed residence are considered homeless, which includes people living in shelters, institutions, convenience stores, roads, and even long-term stays at a friend's house.
Homelessness can be caused by a variety of factors, including lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and poverty. It can also be caused by issues such as mental illness, substance abuse, and domestic violence. Many homeless people have multiple issues that contribute to their situation, and it can be difficult for them to find the help they need to get back on their feet. Some people become homeless due to circumstances beyond their control, such as a natural disaster or a financial crisis, while others may be homeless due to personal choices or challenges they have faced in their lives.
As we mentioned before, homelessness can be identified and classified into two different categories, structural factors, and individual vulnerabilities. It is an unavoidable problem for structural factors. For example, the low capital gains tax benefits the wealthy while leaving the salaried class excluded. Natural disasters force individuals to leave their homes. After the Kansai earthquake, for example, many individuals lost their homes and employment and became refugees. The consequences of political or social changes may also transcend national boundaries. For example, a big number of Middle Eastern migrants migrated to Europe to escape the conflict, forcing a large number of people to leave their homes and lose their jobs.
Other than weak interpersonal relationships, being discriminated against by personal factors such as sexual orientation, color, and status as a rehabilitated person, is an essential issue for individual vulnerabilities. In the United States, studies show that LGBTQ adolescents are 2.2 times more likely to be homeless than heterosexual youth, and being both black and LGBTQ makes you most likely to become homeless. Even among the homeless, LGBTQ persons face far more severe physical and psychological abuse than heterosexual homeless people. These are because they are more likely to be treated unfairly in daily life, such as family, school, and job, or to be bullied and excluded, which results in them wandering on the streets.
There are five main factors that contribute to why homeless individuals remain homeless even years after.
Severance pay (also known as the golden handshake) and retirement pensions are frequently suppressed and reduced in small businesses or factories. For example, in 1996, numerous garment factories went bankrupt involuntarily, and plenty of employees were unable to receive their severance and retirement pensions because they had no one to turn to. In previous decades, there was also news of workers being injured but not receiving insurance, which resulted in them losing jobs and being physically disabled. When elderly people face a situation where they cannot rely on family or social services, they are more likely to become homeless.
Building and department taxes are high; certain landlords force tenants not to declare tax in order to avoid paying tax. In order to continuously rent the building or department, tenants accommodate the landlord, which led to the "black market of renting houses". In such a difficult generation to rent houses and departments, tenants are forced to pay extra money; when poor people rent a house, they become even poorer due to the "black market of renting houses," and finally, when they are unable to afford the financial resources to rent a house, they become homeless.
Social housing is a government-owned housing scheme in which houses are rented at low or no cost to underprivileged groups. Taiwan has a low social housing rate of 0.19%, compared to the Netherlands (34%), the United Kingdom (20%), and Denmark (19%). This means that only 0.19% of all houses in Taiwan are used for social housing, while 34% of all houses in the Netherlands are used for social housing. This demonstrates the disparity between the rights and interests of unprivileged groups in Taiwan and the Netherlands. When unprivileged individuals try to rent a house they are interested in, they are usually rejected twice or three times because landlords do not want to be in charge of taking care of unprivileged individuals, as there would be a need for care to ensure the individual is fine. Only 40% of the 0.19% of social housing is designated for homeless people, so the chances of homeless people regaining a home are slim.
Taiwan's social security law states that each city has the right to define "homeless" differently depending upon the resources, so the definition of homeless varies by city, as well as the resources provided to homeless communities. Though cities have multiple interpretations of homelessness, many cities have underestimated the number of homeless people in their cities, resulting in fewer resources being allocated to dense populations of homeless people. With that said, governments provide resources such as food and aid while ignoring the fact that homeless people have jobs and can obtain food on their own. As a result, the most needed resource, shelter, is not provided to homeless people, and they frequently remain homeless for years.
People with a higher social status gain more wealth, while those with lower social status gain less wealth; the rich tend to get richer, while the poor tend to get poorer. The tax system is also a problem; poor people must pay all taxes, even if it is only for a bowl of ramen, whereas rich people can rely on the capital market and pay extremely low tax rates. As poor people become poorer, they fall below the poverty line, live in deplorable conditions, and are at risk of becoming homeless.
There are many people in the homeless community who are addicted or have been incarcerated. Addiction makes it difficult for people to connect with the outside world, and it is extremely difficult to overcome the addiction. On the other hand, once former inmates are released from prison, they are cut off from society and their families have abandoned them; with no relatives or friends, it is common for these people to become homeless. Considering the reasons stated above, a lot could be done to slightly modify the laws. resulting in not only homeless populations getting much greater support in obtaining a home and getting out of the state of homelessness, and yet also reducing the gap between rich and poor to attain an ideal society, which then would improve the economy. Although this move would cost a significant amount of money, the benefits are countless.
As the number of homeless individuals continues to rise, especially in Taiwan's capital, more NGOs and government institutions have become aware of the circumstances of homelessness. However, some government elites tried to pack the homeless into tourists in order to make the cityscape "better" looking. This demonstrates that not everyone in Taiwan supports or speaks up for the homeless, but the proportion of those who do has increased this year as human rights awareness has grown. Approximately 9300 persons are identified as homeless based on calculations. Although there are certain charities that assist, the environmental assistance they offer still can't allow them to survive in the same way that other individuals with a fixed job and salary can. They do provide some shelters for the homeless, but the majority of them are privately funded and have lengthy waiting lists. The major difficulty that homeless people in Taiwan face is not the accessibility to housing, but instead access to consistent employment. The homeless continue to face difficult circumstances.
In fact, some of the factors that contribute to individuals being homeless include domestic violence, physical and mental disease, and a lack of specialized skills following Taiwan's industrial transformation. There are even some children of resettled people who grew up in juvenile resettlement institutions. When they grow up, their employment and life are unstable due to the earlier trauma. Which made some really young adults sleep on the streets.
Regarding and thinking about homeless people, the first impression that may come to your mind is that they are gluttonous and lazy, and choose to become homeless. But are these true? The prejudice and negative attitude of the general population toward the disadvantaged, which divides regular citizens from the underprivileged, is referred to as social stigma. A permanent stereotype is created and becomes a shame emblem. Who, more significantly, created this stigma? Policy, social culture, and education all have an impact. First of all, in terms of the policy. First of all, in terms of the policy. The government intends to prevent homeless people from sleeping in the open by removing the top of the gazebo and placing stones at the bridge's base. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department even led a crew to clean the area early in the morning, confiscating and discarding the homeless' belongings and refusing to return them. Many homeless people have worked hard and contributed to society, but due to different factors, encounters, or choices, they are forced to sleep on the streets.
