Rents over the last two decades have risen much faster than employee pay, contributing to an escalating homelessness crisis in the U.S.

A growing number of Americans are ending up homeless as soaring rents in recent years squeeze their budgets.

According to a Jan. 25 report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, roughly 653,000 people reported experiencing homelessness in January of 2023, up roughly 12% from the same time a year prior and 48% from 2015. That marks the largest single-year increase in the country’s unhoused population on record, Harvard researchers said.

      • space@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        0·
        10 months ago

        Quite easy to build…

        Buy a sheet of metal about 50x100cm, a bit thicker so it has some weight. Use an angle grinder to sharpen an edge. Buy some wood (like 2x4), build it into a rectangular frame, slightly smaller on the inside than the blade, and make a channel for the blade to slide in. Make 2 holes into the blade so you can attach some rope.

        All that’s missing is the wooden thing that goes around the neck. You can make that from 2 slabs of wood, and you can cut the neck shape with a jig saw.

      • ripcord@lemmy.world
        0·
        10 months ago

        Need basic skills, we’re not building an artisanal execution device or to last decades.