The Journalist’s Resource: Prof. Byrne’s “New Research Parses How Income Inequality Drives Homelessness in U.S.”
A recent study by lead author and BUSSW Assistant Professor Thomas Byrne connects income inequality to homelessness at the local level. Byrne’s expertise in homelessness and housing inequality adds to an ongoing conversation addressing local homeless statistics, since federal numbers are often unreliable in reflecting these communities. His work was recently discussed in The Journalist’s Resource.
Excerpted from “New research parses how income inequality drives homelessness in U.S.” by Clark Merrefield:
“Income inequality drives hundreds of people into homelessness on any given night in dozens of communities across the U.S., finds new research in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
A community of 740,000 people where income disparities have risen sharply over the past decade can expect over 550 additional people to experience homelessness on a given night, the researchers report in their paper, “A Rising Tide Drowns Unstable Boats: How Inequality Creates Homelessness.”
The findings may not surprise residents of expensive cities like New York, where, according to federal data, 13% of the nation’s homeless population lives. West coast cities with high housing costs, like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, also have well-documented homelessness crises.
The new research is among the first to parse the specific ways income inequality affects homelessness at the local level.
“Ultimately, income inequality is pricing lower-income households out of housing markets,” says lead author Thomas Byrne, an assistant professor at Boston University who studies housing.”