Monday, March 1, 2010

The Homeless in This Economy

At the end of January, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City published their Low- and Moderate- Income (LMI) populations Survey. It confirmed what we’ve observed among our homeless residents – that it’s taking much longer for them to find jobs, both because there are fewer jobs and because they are competing with more qualified people for low skills jobs.

From the survey: “Unemployment, lower incomes, lack of insurance and poor housing choices were commonly cited factors impairing recovery in the LMI community.”

". . .Survey results suggest that job prospects for the LMI population continued to decline in the fourth quarter, as most respondents reported that fewer jobs were available for LMI workers than in the previous quarter.

Survey comments offered that one factor curtailing job recovery in the LMI community is the employment of relatively high-skilledworkers in the low-skilled jobs that often were taken by LMI workers prior to the recession.

Respondents also reported that many of those finding jobs were earning less pay than before, putting continued strains on household budgets. Respondents observed that the unemployed in the LMI community were remaining jobless for longer periods of time.”

The next survey will be published in April. Hopefully, there will be some signs of the recovery.

- Laura Gray

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