Home ownership is not an essential need. People aren't excluded from housing because of that risk. They can just rent from a landlord who's taking that risk themselves.
True. Renting has other risks though. The Landlord can increase the price dramatically at least as often as you renew your contract (usually a year in the US), or force you to move out because they sold the property, or really almost any reason. And because moving has such a high transaction cost, landlords can often get away with treating tenants pretty badly, because putting up with a bad landlord is often less bad than having to relocate your home.
It's almost as if playing in the rat race isn't easy or fair. Moving to a rural area or living on social welfare is usually also an option but you have to quit the rat-race to do that and miss out on all the wealth and social status.
If you move to a rural area you still have to buy or rent, the prices are just lower, and there are a lot less options to rent.