Many of us have a daily routine that we are
used to. We wake up, brush our teeth, and eat breakfast
before catching the school bus or driving to work. Of course everyone’s day varies depending
on what they do…their job, the school or university they attend. And in the evening most of us return to family
or to our own home to settle in for the night. Not everyone though. Today we’ll be looking at how people in
less fortunate circumstances spend their time. How they go about their day compared to you
and I. Welcome to this episode of The Infographics Show: What do homeless people do all day? Before we try to answer this question, let’s
first look at problem of homelessness and how bad of an issue it really is. It’s not easy to get an accurate picture
of the number of homeless people there are around the world. Firstly how homelessness is defined differs
from country to country. And though there is some census data, many
of those people living on the streets or in shelters may not even be officially registered. The last time a global survey was attempted
was by the United Nations and that was back in 2005. That report estimated that 100 million people
were homeless worldwide. The nonprofit Habitat for Humanity, which
builds and improves places where families can call home, reported in 2015 that as many
as 1.6 billion people around the world lacked adequate housing. Statistics in the United States are more up
to date, and according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Annual
Homeless Assessment Report in 2017, there were around 554,000 homeless people in America,
or 0.17% of the population. These are some large numbers. So why do people end up as homeless? People become homeless for many different
reasons. The most obvious is simply when there is a
lack of housing that low-income people can afford. Without housing options, they face eviction,
instability and homelessness. But health and homelessness are also explicitly
linked, with health problems often being a cause for a person’s homelessness. An acute physical or behavioral health crisis
or any long-term disabling condition may lead to homelessness. According to the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development, people living in shelters are more than twice as likely to have a disability
compared to the general population. And finally domestic violence can also lead
to homelessness with many people leaving their homes to escape an abusive relationship. So how does a homeless person in America typically
spend their day? When we think of a homeless person, most of
us would think of someone sitting on a corner somewhere during the day, or maybe walking
down the street without any particular destination in mind. It’s easy to make the assumption that being
homeless means walking around all day waiting for luck to change or for money to fall from
the sky and fix the predicament. But in reality, all homeless people are different. They have different lives, different ambitions,
and different daily routines. Contrary to public perception, many homeless
people look for work during the day, though as a homeless person there’s alot going
against you when trying to find a job. Many people who are homeless have criminal
records, which greatly narrows down their options of where to find work. For others, it may have been years between
jobs, which makes finding employment far trickier as employers see this as a weakness. And even if a homeless person lands an interview
there’s the added challenge of being able to dress well enough for an interview. But where there’s a will there’s a way. Mashable ran an article in July this year
about a college graduate, Casarez who told NBC Bay Area that he had moved to Silicon
Valley last September with three years' experience as a software developer, with the goal of
launching a startup. However, Casarez had underestimated the cost
of living and before he was able to find work, he soon found himself sleeping in a park. So he took to the streets and instead of asking
for money, he asked people to take copies of his resume. "All I wanted was for one person to notice,
take my resume and give me an opportunity," he told NBC. Someone took a photo of Casarez canvassing
for a job and it was re-tweeted thousands of times, resulting in offers of jobs and
help. But not all homeless people are as motivated
as Casarez, so what other activities fill their day? Panhandling, which is the legal term for unlawful
forms of public begging, is probably the most common activity that you’ll notice homeless
people doing during the day. Many homeless people will go to their regular
spot on a street corner or highway exit, at a certain time, in the same way people go
to work. They don’t normally spend the whole day
doing this, instead they will usually hang out there until the amount of people passing
by is at its peak. According to the website Homelessadvice.com
most homeless people who panhandle do so for an average of about 1 to 3 hours per day and
spend the rest of the time at the library, watching movies or in their tents listening
to music or drinking and doing drugs. On the subject of drinking and doing drugs
it’s maybe not surprising that levels of substance abuse are high among homeless communities
in the United States. Although obtaining recent accurate statistics
is difficult, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that
38% of homeless people were dependent on alcohol and 26% abused other drugs. On our quest to understand the daily routine
of the homeless, we also came across Brianna Karp, author of The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness. A self described typical Californian girl,
who due to multiple factors found herself homeless and spent 2 and a half years that
way, Karp published an article outlining some of the activities available to homeless people
and these included; Libraries which are free so people can stay as long as they like reading
and keeping the brain in check; Free concerts, and theatre performances; Local fairs, as
most cities host regular farmers markets, swap meets, conventions, and street fairs;
Free movie screenings at local theatres, where you will often find people standing outside
handing out free pre-screening tickets; Museums which have very affordable admission rates
and can be a nice way to spend a day; Art galleries openings which are often free and
even include appetizers and hors d’oeuvres; And even Disneyland, which lets you in free
on your birthday, as long as you have an I.D. card. Plenty more options than we had imagined! Finally to end on a homeless hero story, we
found a 2018 article published by CBS Minnesota, about Shane Drossard, who lives on the streets
of Minneapolis. Drossard was woken up at around 2 a.m. by
the sound of a huge splash on the river he sleeps next to. He scurried to the riverbank, under the Washington
Avenue Bridge, where he could hear a female voice. Drossard lowered himself over a steel and
concrete wall and put his leg out to where a woman was struggling against the current. She grabbed hold of his leg but she was not
strong enough as was swept away. So Drossard went in after the lady. The woman had attempted suicide by jumping
from the bridge. “I’m going to go, I didn’t want to be
here anymore anyway.” She was telling Drossard. He kept reassuring the woman so he could keep
her spirits up, whilst a passer by called 911 for help. Both Drossard and the lady were pulled from
the river, exhausted but alive. When asked from where he drew the courage
to act, Drossard humbly explained, “I don’t know, I heard a voice and just wanted to,
you know, to save, wanted to do something good for somebody.” From panhandling, to job search, to homeless
heroes, the daily life of a homeless person can vary hugely, just like people in all walks
of life. Are there homeless people in your area? and
if so, what other activities have you seen them doing? Let us know in the comments. Also be sure to check out our other video,
Rich vs Poor - How Do They Compare & Who Is Living Longer? Thanks for tuning in to this episode of The
Infographics Show and remember to like, share and subscribe. See u next time.
Everyone knows that all homeless people in the US are essentially college educated kiddos, down on their luck.
None of them have debilitating issues with drug abuse, pasts filled with abuse and trauma, and definitely no mental health issues. Oh, and they all graduated from a STEM field.
They're all just lazy smoochers who prefer to live on the streets, get kicked by random people during the night, and eventually die from tuberculosis out in the cold. Fucking entitled commie bastards.
For those of you who didn't catch it, he attributes Casarez' success to being "motivated enough," and not to being lucky enough to have the qualifications he needed for the job, as well as the exposure that social media gave him.
It would be unreasonable to expect what happened to Casarez to happen to 99% of the rest of the homeless population in the US.