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Title: Calm Before the Storm: The Great Recession’s Impact on Homelessness
Author(s): Falvo, Nick
Citation: Paper presentation, 44th Annual Conference of the Canadian Economics Association
Subject: Social issues – economy|split|Housing – temporary, emergency, homelessness
Publisher: Carleton University, School of Public Policy and Administration
Place of Publication: Ottawa
Date of Publication: 2010
Abstract: Recessions are much more than a numerical change in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or another term for high unemployment. The full impact of a recession takes many years to completely unfold and a recession’s impact on households and communities is neither straightforward nor immediate. The homeless population of a given jurisdiction is one of the last groups to see a change after the onset of a recession, making homelessness the opposite of the proverbial canary in the mine shaft. To be sure, if a drop in GDP is one of the first changes brought about by a recession, an increase in the number of homeless persons is one of the last. Indeed, individuals resort to sleeping in a homeless shelter as an absolute last resort. There is therefore a lag effect during a recession a delay of several years between the onset of the recession and the increase in the homeless population.
Language: English
Material Type: Report
