Unreported World - USA: Down and Out

Description: Unreported World meets the USAs new middle-class homeless: families struggling to hold down jobs that pay so little theyre forced to live in tent cities or their cars and receive little help from the government.Reporter Ramita Navai and producer Clancy Chassay begin their journey in Chicago one of the countrys manufacturing centres which has been hit hard by the effects of the worst financial crisis in decades. St Columbanus church is one of 600 charities across the city that gives out emergency food rations.Across America many working people from all sectors have taken as much as 40 in pay cuts in desperation to hold on to their jobs. Their motivation is clear: if you are a temporary part-time or self-employed worker you dont qualify for government help. The result is that many cant make ends meet and afford to feed themselves and their families.Father Matt Eyerman tells Navai that the number of families receiving help from his church has leapt from 240 to 498 over the last two years even though many of them still have jobs.Today more than 37 million Americans receive either state or private food assistance. More than three million were made homeless in 2009 despite holding down jobs. More than half of those living in shelters have had their homes repossessed by banks.The team travels south to the state of Tennessee. Theyve been told that thousands of homeless people are taking refuge in temporary encampments. The City of Nashville which has only only one emergency shelter for families has more than 40 of these tent cities.Navai meets Michael and Stacey Farley who have been living in the tent city for six months. Stacey tells Navai that she has been forced to leave her son and daughter with relatives while they both look for work.Navai and Chassay move on to California where more and more people are ending up on the streets. California has the highest debt in the USA and many essential services have been cut including emergency housing assistance. Skid Row which is one square mile of Los Angeles has as many as 2000 people sleeping rough every night. It has a reputation for drugs and crime and Navai talks to homeless people who are forced to walk all day to avoid being picked up by the police for loitering.The US economy is in recovery but many experts believe the most damaging effects have yet to be felt. Its predicted that another 1.5 million people will be forced into homelessness within two years and in a country with few safety nets many more people could fall through the cracks.