Do you believe that a substantial percentage of the homeless in the United State

Question

1. Do you believe that a substantial percentage of the homeless in the United States choose to live on the streets? What makes you feel that this is the case?
2. Do you believe that a welfare system similar to that in Japan could work in the United States? Why or why not? Use whatever information you have learned so far regarding the cultural and societal structures of the two countries that would make it either possible or impossible.

1. Do you believe that a substantial percentage of the homeless in the United States choose to live on the streets? What makes you feel that this is the case?
2. Do you believe that a welfare system similar to that in Japan could work in the United States? Why or why not? Use whatever information you have learned so far regarding the cultural and societal structures of the two countries that would make it either possible or impossible.

Explanation / Answer

Why people live on the streets in US:

Homelessness in a condition where a person is forced to leave home due to certain circumstances which might be personal or common to the some other people in the economy. Lack of substantial social funding is a reason for which the problem of homelessness has worsened. Now, for personal medical reasons like schizophrenia, dementia etc which causes forgetfulness of people, fear for other people etc are entirely specific to those human beings for opting to stay away from charity shelters and find more comfort on the streets. However, not everyone is rendered homeless due to personal reasons. For example, during President Reagan’s reign, as the HUD funding was depleted and millions were displaced, homelessness began to grow. However, that didn’t make it compulsory for all homeless people to live on the streets because charity shelters were an option. But, as it turned out, charity shelters were becoming products of bureaucratic systems. Ever since that, charity shelters still have long waiting list and have become more of a business than charity, sometimes even asking for money to take homeless people in. Several internal problems like regular theft of food, no medical check up and overcrowding make repel the homeless from choosing shelters. External problems like, location of charity shelters in high crime neighbourhoods, being subjected to violence and hurtful comments amounting to mental torture also encourage homeless to choose the streets over charity shelters. At least on the street, they have their free will. Charity shelters provide no permanent solution. It also doesn’t make any effort to train or educate the homeless to get them back on their feet. It is just a temporary solution which aggravates the mess further rather than disentangling it. Thus, most homeless people in the US choose to live on the streets.

Are same welfare schemes applicable for Japan & US?

Japan, in spite of tremendous economic growth and development still holds a very large population of homeless residents. However, since the population in Japan is very transient and ever changing, it’s difficult to capture the actual population of homeless people even though the numbers are very high. A welfare system similar to that in Japan wouldn’t necessarily be appropriate mainly because the inherent structural differences in the root cause and effect of the homelessness in both the countries. Firstly, Japan & USA have their differences. Japan has a large number of homeless people suffering from mental illness. Comparatively in US, the proportion of mentally ill homeless people is low. On the other hand, one of the major causes of homelessness in USA is the drug problem, which is not there in Japan. Therefore two different causes call for separate welfare schemes and treatment for the homeless in two different countries.

Secondly, there is a basic difference between the countries when it comes to society and culture. Less than 10% of the homeless in Japan are entitled to benefits while above 4% of the same are entitled to benefits in USA. In Japan, to receive benefits, a resident has to prove that he has no family of his own because it is primarily the responsibility of the family members to take care of its own. Moreover the homeless in Japan have to prove that they have no assets or savings in their name. Japan boasts of universal medical care and comprehensive day care, something which goes far beyond that in USA. However to receive charity shelter benefits permanently, one has to comply with a lot of conditions that are not there in the US. Thus, due to their inherent differences in society, culture and structural reasons for homelessness, the same welfare schemes will not work in Japan & US.

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