Some states do still provide GA to persons with disabilities and the elderly, but the benefit levels are paltry, having fallen significantly over the past ten years. Retractions in GA programs make it increasingly difficult for poor single adults to meet the needs of daily living. Many are forced to rely on emergency shelters, soup kitchens, and Health Care for the Homeless programs. The Minimum Wage and the States General Assistance is not the only area where State policy might affect the incomes of poor single adults. And none of these State efforts has yet reduced the intolerable disparity between rich and poor.
Poor individuals remain at great risk of homelessness despite the strong economy.
Dramatic income reforms are required, and much advocacy must occur at the State level. These include increases in the federal or state minimum wage, increased unemployment insurance and income support programs, the establishment of a state earned income tax credit, and other creative state tax reforms. More than 30 jurisdictions in states such as California, Maryland, Minnesota, Iowa, and Colorado have passed living wage ordinances which consider the costs of housing and other needs in the market economy. Living Wage Campaigns are active in most states. Another organization, House the Homeless, is promoting a universal living wage attached to the rising cost of housing in each community.