What We Learned From the Deepest Look at Homelessness in Decades
b"California has around half of the nation\\u2019s unsheltered homeless population. The state\\u2019s homelessness crisis has become a talking point for Republicans and a warning sign for Democrats in blue cities and states across the country.\\n\\nLast month, the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco, released a landmark report about homelessness in the state, drawing from nearly 3,200 questionnaires and 365 in-depth interviews. It is the single deepest study on homelessness in America in decades. And the report is packed with findings that shed new light not only on California\\u2019s homelessness problem but also on housing affordability nationwide.\\n\\nJerusalem Demsas is a staff writer at The Atlantic who has written extensively about the interlocking problems of housing affordability and homelessness in America. So I asked her on the show to walk me through the core findings of the study, what we know about the causes of homelessness, and what solutions exist to address it. We discuss the surprising process by which people end up homeless in the first place, the \\u201cscarring\\u201d effect that homelessness can have on their future prospects, the importance of thinking of homelessness as a \\u201cflow,\\u201d not a \\u201cstock,\\u201d the benefits and limitations of \\u201chousing first\\u201d approaches to end homelessness, why Republican proposals for being tougher on the homeless can make the problem worse, why neither generous social safety nets nor private equity firms are to blame for homelessness, and more.\\nMentioned:\\n\\nWe're looking for a senior editor for the show. Learn more and apply here.\\n\\nBook Recommendations:\\n\\nHomelessness Is a Housing Problem by Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern\\n\\nChildren of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky\\n\\nStrangers to Ourselves by Rachel Aviv\\n\\nListen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp\\n\\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.\\n\\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of \\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.\\n\\nThis episode of \\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Mary Marge Locker. The senior engineer is Jeff Geld. The senior editor is Rog\\xe9 Karma. The show\\u2019s production team also includes Emefa Agawu, Annie Galvin and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Sonia Herrero."