Finland, in recent decades, has virtually eliminated street homelessness called “sleeping rough,” and reduced housing costs for all its residents at the same time.
In Finland, they've managed to virtually end homelessness, writes Linda McQuaig.
However, what is certain is that Japan is the only country in the world with a homeless population rate of around 0%. At least that is what the 2022 statistical data indicate, which show an amazing drop that began in the preceding years.
Since 2008, Housing First has been a national policy in Finland, and to date there are up to 3,000 Housing First units in Helsinki. The latest Government Strategy (2020) has made a commitment to continue working to a Housing First model and aims to eradicate homelessness by 2027.
So, more than a decade after the launch of the “Housing First” policy, 80 per cent of Finland's homeless are doing well, still living in the housing they'd been provided with — but now paying the rent on their own. This not only helps the homeless, it turns out to be cheaper.
Why is Japan's Homeless Population So Low? Worldwide, homelessness results from many factors, including drug addiction, mental health, housing options, education and government decisions. Japan's strict drug laws, mental health systems and housing options contribute to the countries low homeless population.
Support. In Western Japan, especially Osaka, there are many volunteer organisations and religious groups. The majority of these organisations are Christian, and provide assistance and emergency meal feeding to the homeless population. This kind of support is also provided in Yokohama.
While there is no explicit national strategy to address homelessness, there have been calls for an integrated housing provision strategy in which the state, region and municipality are all jointly responsible for providing adequate housing.
The process of deinstitutionalization involved the elimination of mental institutions, which then led to an increase of people living the street. Denmark, in comparison, worked on improving mental institutions (Hansen 115), which resulted in a lower rate of homelessness (Benjaminsen and Dyb 49).
Since 2009, the national Danish strategy for tackling homelessness has been the housing first approach. We know it works – but it has not always worked well for our young people. Housing first, which has also been used in Finland, involves substantial support from social care teams.
Realistically in Australia, most people experiencing homelessness are hidden from sight. They could be sleeping in a car, couch surfing or enduring the night on public buses. They may have shelter but no permanent place to make a home. These are the “hidden homeless”.
Denver and Colorado Springs have the largest homeless communities. In April 2012, Denver enacted the Urban Camping Ban due to the occupy Denver protest and the number of homeless on the 16th Street Mall.
Finland, in recent decades, has virtually eliminated street homelessness called “sleeping rough,” and reduced housing costs for all its residents at the same time.
A couple of American cities have implemented the Housing First approach as well. These include Columbus, Ohio, and Salt Lake City. Columbus has a 70 percent success rate for housing the homeless. Meanwhile, the state of Utah has seen a 91 percent drop in homelessness between 2005 and 2015.
The number of street homeless persons fell from 1,050 in 2019 to 616 in 2021, a drop of 41%. But occupancy in temporary shelters increased more than sixfold, from 65 to 420. The street homeless population in 2021 was comparable to that of 2019 in many ways: Rough sleepers were found in most parts of Singapore.
Homelessness is solved by providing an adequate supply of safe, appropriate and affordable housing and for those who require it, supportive housing with tenancies that have intentional community services.
Homelessness in Copenhagen is de facto illegal. Denmark has not outlawed homelessness per se, but it has banned 'insecurity creating camps'.
The Federal Government acknowledges that homelessness in Germany is caused by multiple factors, "such as financial, domestic, and individual psychosocial reasons" and that it is not merely rooted in the lack of affordable accommodation According to Global Homelessness Statistics, "Around 50% of poor households spend ...
Since several years, homelessness has decreased in Finland, and the current government has a plan to end homelessness completely by 2027. It means that we are producing a certain amount of affordable social housing and also providing support services for homeless people with our own housing-first model.
At 0.003% or roughly 1 homeless person per 34,000 residents, Japan is the country with the world's lowest rate of homelessness. Moreover, with a population of around 125.7 million people, the country also has one of the lowest numbers of homeless people.
Norway's success in regards to having a low homeless population is not random or coincidental. Instead, it is thanks to targeted, effective and long-term policy initiatives. One of the first major policies announced to combat homelessness in Norway was Project Homeless.
Homelessness in Russia has been observed since the end of the 19th century. After the abolition of serfdom, major cities experienced a large influx of former serfs who sought jobs as industrial workers in the rapidly developing Russian industry.
Globally, approximately 1.6 billion people lack adequate housing, with 15 million more individuals being evicted on an annual basis. This situation is often profoundly worse in low- and middle-income countries like China. It is estimated that 300 million people in the country—home to 1.4 billion Chinese—are homeless.
To avoid a sudden influx of people onto the streets, the Tokyo government secured several thousand rooms in business hotels around the city to house them until the state of emergency was over. This was perhaps the most overt, if temporary, government measure to help those without homes during the pandemic.