New study says high housing costs, low income push Californians into homelessness

By JANIE HAR
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new study by the University of California, San Francisco shows that homeless people in California were struggling with poor health and deep poverty before becoming homeless. The study released Tuesday by the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative aims to provide a comprehensive picture of adult homelessness in a state that has 30% of the country’s homeless. The representative survey of nearly 3,200 homeless adults found that their median household income was just $960 a month when they lost housing. The median income for renters on a lease before they became homeless was $1,400 a month, half of which went to rent.