I’ve been seeing a few of thiose as well @ponponwei - Excellent topic btw (one of my pet hates about Babypips is that you can only see “Stuff” posted in the last few hours ! and I’ve only just come across this thread !)
As I understand the problem in USA - it stems from the fact that only thefts over around $900 count as “crimes” - so shoplifting goes completely unpunished. ! - I also saw a similar “report” which saoid the only items not “Locked away” were Sanitary Towels and similar products (Hardly worth stealing ? )
However like @Mondeoman and @tommor - I am in the uk and we have different versions of the problems - which also link to a thread I made some time ago - but the numbers have now changed from 12 to 13 I believe
Again Here in the UK - H,meless men cannot access State Benefits because they have “No fixed abode” - Homeless women - will be housed by Local Councils immediately and therefore access Benefits with minimum inconvenience - so they can then get work if tehy want to whereas the same u=issue of “no fixed abode” prevents men from working ! - Almost ALL truly homeless people in UK are men. And there is NO Recognised method of escaping this trap !
Many of us up until a couple of years ago knew where a “tramp” “Lived” on a semi-permanent basis - but Govt pressure on Local Authorities have meant these poor guys have been “Moved on” and many have simply “died”.
I have an “In-Law” Relative who boasts that he went and set fire to a Tramp’s HOME" with a bucket of petrol - simnply because he (the Tramp) - “Lived tehre” and somehow offended this obnoxious man - by just existing !
When I left School 50 odd years ago - a lad in my year and two of his “mates” were sentenced for Murdering a “tramp” - who (we all knew) lived under a low bridge to escape the rain. They just went and kicked him to death “For a laugh” in the middle of the night.
Personally I think @tommor 's picture of “Beggars in luxury” - is an Urban Myth - rather than a reality.
[I would point out however that if I were to be “Homeless” - California USA is a far more tempting location than Newcastle (uk) ]