this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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I glanced over the actual study yesterday. Iirc, there was a control group of 65 who were studied on top of the other 50 who received the lump sum of cash. Both groups spent roughly similar amounts of stimulants such as alcohol and other drugs, despite the group receiving financial help obviously having access to more money. I think it makes more sense to think of the homeless' spending on stimulants as just another need they have developed due to different circumstances on their lives. Would their finances be easier to manage if they didn't have that spending? Sure, but very, very few people are going to be capable of overcoming an addiction on the short term when they structurally live under shit circumstances. Help them reach a minimum standard of living, then it'll be easier for them to successfully go through therapy.
TL;DR: Just give homeless people money, they tend to understand their own circumstances well enough to know how they should spend it.
I think it’s be obvious that if you give a homeless person ten bucks, that’s not going to help them get out of homelessness, so of course it’s going to be spent on among their next day or so more tolerable in the form of mind altering substances.
Enough money to actually help and it starts getting spent on things that will improve their outlook on life.
Of course $7500 isn't nearly enough for pulling someone out of homelessness.
To be honest, I think it's far more efficient to give the homeless proper homes with locking doors and a respectable level of privacy as well as access to clean water and some sort of minimum level of food (like an infinite supply of rolled oats). It doesn't need to be a big home, even something little better than a capsule hotel room would be enough.
The homeless stay homeless because nobody can pull themselves together if they're constantly stressed trying to figure out how to even reach the next day. It's even worse when you don't have access to a shower to clean yourself up to be presentable enough to get through an interview at even the most unwanted jobs.
It's the single biggest reason why mental illness is so rampant amongst the homeless and few ever repair their lives.