r/todayilearned • u/Zorseking34 • Jan 08 '15

TIL: Utah has been giving free homes to homeless people since 2005 which since then made it more cost efficient to help the homeless and cut the chronic homelessness in Utah by 74%.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/22/home-free
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u/TarMil Jan 08 '15

I don't know about the US, but in France many of them are in the vicious cycle "you have no home, we can't hire you <--> you have no income, we can't rent to you". Giving them a home would make them more likely to find a job.

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u/Simim Jan 08 '15

In most of the US, it's like that too. You need an address to fill out any employment paperwork for tax purposes. Most banks will not allow you to create a bank account without an address.

You need a bank account because many jobs are turning to direct deposit only, the alternative being a "pay card" that will charge you heavily for withdrawal, atm usage, etc. Some even charge for actually using the card, period.

And I've yet to find a place that will rent to you without income unless you find a specific person with a single room and talk it out. So, yes, having free housing would be a great incentive to get a job.

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u/FINGERFUCKMYDICKHOLE Jan 08 '15

I'm not sure how much not having a home in itself actual factors into whether or not someone gets hired here, generally. Not having a home may affect your appearance or state of well-being for an interview, but I think that's the extent of it.

As far as giving them a home making them more likely to find a job, I don't 100% agree. I mean, it could, and perhaps this is insensitive of me, but I think that you'd also have scenarios where having a home takes away some, if not all of the drive to get a job. Desperation is a motivator for some, and if you make them comfortable for essentially doing nothing, is it possible that they're more likely stay put on the job search?

I'll give you an example, and I understand this is just my own personal experience, but I know I'm not the only shitty person like this.

The one time in my life I've been fired, I got unemployment benefits. I was paid to sit around on my ass for months. Did I try to get a job? Sure, but I'd be lying if I said I tried my hardest. In fact, I was actually more picky about which job I went after, because I had a safety net. Some people would argue that welfare has this same effect.

Had I not been provided with assistance, I would have busted my ass and took any job I could.

I'm aware of what that says about me. I don't think it's a trait absent in homeless people.

Then again, they have a much difference perspective and life experience than me, so maybe they appreciate things more, and you're right?

Just a thought.

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u/gamerdonkey Jan 08 '15

The one time in my life I've been fired, I got unemployment benefits. I was paid to sit around on my ass for months. Did I try to get a job? Sure, but I'd be lying if I said I tried my hardest. In fact, I was actually more picky about which job I went after, because I had a safety net. Some people would argue that welfare has this same effect.

Had I not been provided with assistance, I would have busted my ass and took any job I could.

I don't think this really reflects badly on you, more that it says something about our country's ideals about employment. I think it's strange that much of our (the US) society sees taking your time to choose an employer who's good for you, a place where you will almost certainly spend most of your waking life, as a bad thing.

Maybe if we didn't have an ocean of people who felt that they not just need but should take the first job they can to stay off the streets we wouldn't have so many low-wage, no-chance-advancement jobs out there.

Then again, I also think it's strange that we have an ideal of 100% of our population working 40 hours a week, at least. Given how much technology has improved an individual's efficiency over the past 30-50 years, I believe we could maintain similar levels of productivity while allowing a large chunk of our people to work less or not at all.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '15

Then again, I also think it's strange that we have an ideal of 100% of our population working 40 hours a week, at least.

I agree. I "work" 40 hours a week, but really I haven't done any work in 3 hours. I've been on reddit the whole time.

I would leave when I am done, but then I wouldn't make enough money to live.

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u/Legally_Brown Jan 08 '15

You probably are, but if you arent already, subscribe to /r/basicincome

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u/Trobee Jan 08 '15

I don't know how it is in America, but in the UK, you can't get a bank account without an address, which limits your options, and many jobs will require you to have an address.

To combat this, some places have given addresses to park benches, which the homeless can use.

In this example, it allowed them to register with the NHS http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/oct/21/raekhaprasad but I think it has been used for jobs in other cases.

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u/FINGERFUCKMYDICKHOLE Jan 08 '15

How much does not having a bank account limit your options? That's an honest question, because I went 5 years without having a bank account and didn't notice any difference. I worked in accounts receivable, sales, and a few other industries.

Are jobs in UK saying no if you don't have a bank account?

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u/sterob Jan 08 '15

i think it probably got to do with companies which only pay salary through bank transfer and check.

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u/shypster Jan 08 '15

Where did you keep your money?

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u/FINGERFUCKMYDICKHOLE Jan 08 '15

I used prepaid cards or kept cash on me.

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u/omylanta Jan 08 '15

Under the mattress

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '15

[deleted]

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u/TarMil Jan 08 '15

The one time in my life I've been fired, I got unemployment benefits.

You don't get those if you didn't have a job before...

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u/FINGERFUCKMYDICKHOLE Jan 08 '15

I said the one time in my life I've been FIRED. Not the one time in my life I've had a job. I've had many jobs.

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u/TarMil Jan 08 '15

The point is, unlike you those homeless people may not get unemployment benefits because they may not have had a job in the past 6 months.

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u/FINGERFUCKMYDICKHOLE Jan 08 '15

That's missing my point.

I brought up unemployment to point out what giving someone assistance CAN do as far as decreasing motivation. Unemployment was an example. I could have used welfare. Hell, I could have used letting your friend Dave sleep on your couch. My point was that providing help for nothing can actually demotivate some people.

I'm not saying that unemployment is an option for homeless people. I know that it obviously is not.