A federal study has found that the number of homeless people in the United States has increased this year for the first time since the Great Recession, The Guardian reported. On a single night this year, 553,742 people were homeless, 0.7% more than last year. African Americans comprise more than one-third of the homeless population. Median hourly wages have not risen significantly for several decades; they were $16.74 in 1973, and $17.86 in 2016. Since investment in low-income housing was cut under President Ronald Reagan, government investment in it has been slow. Today, those on the verge of becoming homeless do not have access to government aid. Meanwhile, government expenditure on a housing tax break for the rich is double of what it spends helping the poor with rent.