How should we address homelessness?

A better economy will lead to more private charity toward the homeless

Question: How should we address homelessness?
Position‹2 of 3›: We should help homeless people through improving the economy.
Argument‹2 of 2: A better economy will lead to more private charity toward the homeless

If people enjoy financial stability, they will be more willing to help the homeless.

The argument

If a community faces a poor economic climate, its residents will be unlikely to support homeless people. Naturally, they will focus on providing for their own needs, with little resources left over for charitable giving. By striving to improve the economy overall, we can increase donations to the homeless and thus reduce this problem.

Premises

[P1]In a poor economic climate, residents focus on their own needs and have few resources left for charitable giving to the homeless. [P2] A stronger economy frees up resources, increasing private donations directed toward homeless people. [P3] More private charity toward the homeless reduces the scale of the homelessness problem. [C] Therefore, we should address homelessness by improving the economy so that private charity toward the homeless grows.

Counter-arguments

There is considerable evidence that homelessness worsens a nation's economy, making it unlikely that substantial economic growth will occur alongside homelessness.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Charitable giving does fall in downturns, and the premise moves from that to treating private giving as the relevant channel. Public spending on housing and services dwarfs private donation in every developed country. [Rejecting P2] Growth does not distribute evenly, and periods of strong growth in several countries have coincided with rising homelessness. Rising incomes also push up rents, which is a principal driver of the very problem the premise expects growth to solve. [Rejecting P3] Charity addresses immediate need rather than the supply of housing. Shelters, food and clothing relieve the condition; they do not produce the affordable units whose shortage is the structural cause. [Rejecting C] The conclusion proposes a remedy no one directly controls. 'Improve the economy' is not a homelessness policy, and the interventions with the strongest evidence behind them — housing-first programmes, subsidised supply, tenancy protection — are deliberate public measures rather than by-products of growth.