Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
In Finland, only about one in 1700 people is homeless. The equivalent figure for the UK is about one in 250. How have the Finns done it? By building homes for the homeless, making ending homelessness a national priority and looking after the homeless once housed. A long piece in Der Spiegel (funded in part by the Gates Foundation) sets out the elements of the care offered, among them round-the-clock medical assistance, regular “empathy training sessions” and an insistence on abstinence from drugs and alcohol in public spaces. Importantly, that rule does not apply in private living quarters because the people who run the country’s Housing First programme don’t think it’s realistic. Homelessness fell in Finland by 40 per cent between 2019 and 2022 and is down by 20,000 compared with the 1980s, in a country of 5.5 million. The government estimates it saves €32 million a year by housing those who would otherwise sleep rough, chiefly through reduced healthcare costs.