Tent Cities Sprout Across US

Squeezed shelters, recession prompt local government tolerance

(NEWSER) - With room tight in homeless shelters, municipalities across the US are allowing tent cities to stand—after years spent breaking up homeless clusters, the Wall Street Journal reports. In some areas, the encampments are even supplied with basic services like portable toilets and medical care. “There is no place to put them,” says a Nashville homeless official of the dwellers, especially when cities are trying to cut budgets. More»

Increase in fleeing juveniles strains social services

(NEWSER) - More and more young Americans, including many under 13, have left home or been kicked out as foreclosures, unemployment, and the rising cost of living make conditions in lower-income homes even tougher than usual. Experts and government studies estimate that 1.6 million juveniles leave home each year, though there are no reliable figures of how many return. "You're basically on the lam," says one 15-year-old who fled an abusive father and sleeps in a Wal-Mart restroom. "But you're a kid, so it's pretty hard to hide." More»

(NEWSER) - A surge in vicious, unprovoked assaults on homeless people has put weight behind efforts to reclassify such attacks as hate crimes, the New York Times reports. Attacks have risen as more people have been pushed onto the streets by the recession, and researchers say the assailants are generally men or, more often, teenage boys who see the homeless as easy targets and beat, burn, and kill them for sport. "A lot of what we see are thrill offenders," says one criminologist. More»

But most remain upbeat about their future: Pew survey

(NEWSER) - The economy is doing a number on those aged 18 to 34, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center :

• Half say they have taken a job they didn't want.
• More than a third have gone back to school because of the job market.
• Nearly a quarter have taken unpaid work to gain experience.
• About a quarter have moved back in with the folks.
• More than 1 in 5 have postponed having a baby, and about the same number have put off getting married.

More people may be drinking at home: CDC

(NEWSER) - The good news: According to self-reported data, Americans are driving drunk less often. The bad news: It may not be because we're more responsible, but because ... we're broke. The CDC data shows that self-reported drunk driving among adults was down 30% from 161 million instances in 2006 to about 112 million in 2010. Though the reasons are "not well understood," the CDC says the poor economy could be a factor, as more people drink at home. More»