The consequences of the economic crisis are being shouldered by the people. Even essential things are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain for fewer and fewer people. In Baden Württemberg, we can see this in the issue of housing. Local welfare organizations are reporting an increase in the housing shortage and are warning that homelessness is becoming a permanent condition.

The League of Independent Welfare Associations in Baden Württemberg published a survey on this subject. This came to the conclusion, that on September 29, 2023, a total of 12,688 people who were unable to find a home had search for help in one of their advice centers. This is around 300 more than a year earlier. This is the second time in a row that a new record has been reached.

Almost one in three of those affected are living with friends, in emergency shelters or even on the street. Once you are in such a situation, you often find yourself in a further downward spiral, as homeless people have a very difficult time on the already highly contested housing market. The chairman of the league's board, Marc Groß, warns that the problem of homelessness is becoming a permanent condition for more and more of those affected. This is due to the exclusion of homeless people on the housing market.

"We are concerned that it is not just the number of people in need that we are caring for that is increasing. In addition, the individual problems are becoming increasingly complex and challenging," says the league. They also point out that they and their colleagues are increasingly noticing massive health impairments, mental illness and impoverishment symptoms among those affected. "The demands on professional help have increased further. Emergency housing assistance has been working for a long time, often beyond the limit, to alleviate or overcome emergencies." Says Simon Näckel, spokesman for the League's sub-committee for emergency housing and assistance for former criminals.

The League also criticizes the fact that there is far too little social housing in Baden Württemberg and that the existing number of social housing units is also far below the national average. The lack of affordable housing in the state has long been a major problem. Nevertheless, the number of existing social housing units has only increased in the last two years and only by a few hundred more units. A drop in the ocean.

According to the Tagesschau, the League believes that the main reasons for those affected losing their homes are the rise in rent and energy prices as well as inflation. In short, the consequences of the economic crisis, which have become increasingly apparent over the last few years, are hitting the lowest sections of the proletariat with full force.

And these consequences will continue to increase, without the politicians really doing anything about it. For example, the electricity company EnBW, which is the basic supplier of electricity in large parts of Baden Württemberg, recently announced that it intends to further increase its prices from April. In the basic or replacement supply, for example, the tariff is to rise by 15.9 percent. The reasons given by the company for the price increase are, on the one hand, the increased buying prices for electricity with which the company is confronted. On the other hand, the government's decision at the end of last year to cut the federal subsidy for the electricity grids as part of the so-called "budget compromise". Electricity companies such as EnBW will now simply pass on the increased costs to the people.

The impoverishment of the masses is also increasing in imperialist centers such as the FRG. The unfolding economic crisis is being shifted onto the backs of the working class, plunging ever larger sections of it into misery. Meanwhile, the ruling politicians, who implement the policies of the bourgeoisie, do not care about this. Instead of talking about how they want to get the housing shortage under control, they talk about where "we" have to make savings because of the so-called budget crisis. At the same time, poverty continues to rise. But the more large sections of the people are thrown into misery, the more people also have a reason to rebel against this society.

Symbolic image: Weingarten, a working-class district in Freiburg. Source: bz-ticket.de