Homelessness does not mean jobless but…

Homelessness does not mean jobless but…

When we hear the word homelessness, many of us immediately imagine someone sleeping on the street.

But homelessness is much bigger than that.

Someone can be homeless without sleeping on a pavement.

They could be staying temporarily with friends or relatives. They could be living in emergency accommodation. They could be moving from one temporary place to another because they have nowhere permanent to call home.

So, perhaps the more important question is:

What actually causes homelessness?

And if we look at what is happening in developed countries such as the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, there is one very important lesson.

Homelessness is rarely caused by just one thing.

#1 It is not simply because someone doesn’t want to work

This is probably the easiest assumption to make.

“He doesn’t work, so he becomes homeless.”

Sometimes unemployment is part of the problem.

But it is not the whole story.

People can lose their homes because of they lost their job, suffer from relationship breakdowns, illness, domestic violence, rising rent, debt or simply because their income is no longer enough to keep up with housing costs.

Australia’s AIHW specifically identifies housing-market factors such as low vacancy rates, rising rents, inflation, interest rates and cost-of-living pressures as factors that can worsen housing stress. Critical life events such as family breakdown and loss of employment can also contribute.

In other words, homelessness can happen when something goes wrong and a person does not have enough financial or social buffer to recover and thus no longer could afford a place they could call their own.

#2 Look at Australia

Australia is an interesting example because it is a developed country with a relatively high standard of living.

Yet housing affordability remains a major challenge.

AIHW reported that rents increased 5.5% in the 12 months to March 2025. It also found that about 42% of low-income households were experiencing rental stress, spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs.

Think about that.

If a household has limited income and a very large portion of it goes towards rent, there isn’t much left for food, transport, healthcare, childcare or emergencies.

Then one unexpected event happens.

The car breaks down. Someone loses a job.

A medical bill arrives. A relationship breaks down.

And suddenly, the household has very little room to manoeuvre.

#3 Even America has a homelessness problem

The United States is one of the world’s richest economies.

Yet HUD reported that 745,652 people were homeless on a single night in January 2025, including more than 266,000 people who were unsheltered.

That is a huge number.

It reminds us that economic development alone does not eliminate homelessness.

Housing affordability, availability, income, social support and personal circumstances all matter.

And this is why I don’t think homelessness should simply be labelled as a “poor people problem”.

It is a housing and social resilience problem too.

#4 The UK shows another side of the problem

England’s latest figures also show that rough sleeping remains a serious issue.

In June 2026, an estimated 8,748 people were sleeping rough over the month, while 3,980 were estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night. Both figures were higher than the same period a year earlier.

Again, we are talking about a developed country.

So clearly, becoming a developed economy does not automatically solve homelessness.

#5 What about Malaysia?

Now let’s bring this home.

Malaysia has its own homelessness issues, particularly in major urban areas.

They may not have the financial capability to afford a place, so people could be living with parents or relatives.

Some could be struggling to pay rental and thus could not keep the place.

And finally, those without stable accommodation.

These are not completely separate groups.

Someone’s financial situation can move them from one category to another.

That is why housing affordability matters.

DOSM’s latest figures show that the average Basic Expenditure of Decent Living (PAKW) for Malaysian households was RM4,846 per month in 2024, while Selangor’s figure was RM6,010 and Kuala Lumpur’s RM5,639.

Housing is only one part of that expenditure.

But if housing takes too much of a household’s income, everything else becomes harder.

#6 So, what can we learn from homelessness?

For me, the biggest lesson is simple.

Everyone needs to aim at owning a place. A small place. A further away place than popular locations. Just a place where after paying mortgages for 30 years, we stop needing to pay monthly rental. Especially at a time when we no longer hold a full time job or has retired.

If we are renting, are we also renting as cheap as we could while saving for our own property?

And perhaps this is where Malaysia can learn from the US, Australia and UK.

Homelessness does not suddenly appear overnight.

Very often, there is a long journey beforehand. It happens even in developed countries.

Causes include rising housing costs. Insufficient income.

Debt. (credit card… spend more than we have…)

Job loss. (uncertainty is prevalent these days)

Family problems.

No savings.

One problem becomes two.

Two become three.

And eventually, the person has nowhere to go.

Think about this and take proper actions to ensure this does not happen to us or our loved ones.

Happy taking action.

References

• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – 2025 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report — 745,652 people homeless on a single night in January 2025.
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – Housing assistance in Australia 2025 — housing affordability, rental stress and the factors contributing to housing insecurity.
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – Homelessness services — latest Australian homelessness-service data, including almost 289,000 clients assisted during 2024–25.
• GOV.UK – Rough sleeping data framework, April to June 2026 — latest England rough-sleeping figures.
• Department of Statistics Malaysia – State Socioeconomic Report 2025 — latest PAKW figures for Malaysia, including Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
• OpenDOSM – Number of Households and Living Quarters — Malaysian household and housing-stock data.
• Original article – What Is Homelessness? What Causes Homelessness? — original Kopi and Property article.