I agree with you: the costs of a homeless person are reduced when we house them. There's a glut of evidence to support this. What I haven't yet seen is evidenc

I agree with you: the costs of a homeless person are reduced when we house them. There's a glut of evidence to support this. What I haven't yet seen is evidence of the impact on society at large. What is the impact on society, and those who have worked hard for their housing, financially and psychologically? While it may make financial sense, humans are emotional creatures very sensitive to perceived fairness. In the ultimatum game, people refuse 'unfair' offers to their own detriment. [0] Do the number of people on these services grow or shrink over time? Free housing enhances the welfare trap[1], where people may be better off not working. It is not a silver bullet and needs to be paired with appropriate policy to be effective. Britain reduced their welfare trap by raising the first tax bracket, fired half a million government employees, and now has their highest employment rate in history.[2] [0]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimatum_game#Experimental_results http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimatum_game#Experimental_res... [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_trap http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_trap [2]http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9475222/the-coalitions-jobs-record-is-miraculous-why-wont-they-talk-about-it/ http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9475222/the-coalitions-j...