Depression is another disaster which, throughout history, has affected vast amounts of people. Depression is an epidemic which can effect as little as one region of a country or as much as the entire world economy. It can leave people who were once affluent with nothing to their names but the clothes on their backs. Many times, depression is so widespread that it is hard for a country to aid those affected by such a crisis.

The best known depression in history is, of course, the Great Depression. The Great Depression started in the United States with the stock market crash of 1929 which left many without a cent to their names. The disaster quickly spread throughout the world, leaving millions of people in Germany, Great Britain, the United States, and other countries jobless. Without jobs, people lacked the funds to purchase food at steadily inflating prices. People around the world soon became homeless and hungry and looked towards totalitarian leaders to bring them out of the crisis.

Due to the new leaders, political battles soon began to break out as well. It was not until World War II that the world eventually rose back up out of depression. The need for soldiers and for new technologically-advanced ways of fighting led to a surge in employment.

Depression is as serious a cause of homelessness as the various other causes. Economic depression comes as a shock to people in all ways of life, especially to those who had previously led lavish lifestyles. Being suddenly confronted with homelessness is neither easy nor pleasant, and depression forces one to come to terms with such a state very quickly.