Homelessness in Sweden explained

Homelessness in Sweden affects some 34,000 people.[1] [2]

The Swedish government's response to homelessness has included commissioning national surveys on homelessness during the last decade that allow for direct comparison between Sweden, Denmark and Norway.[3] The three countries have very similar definitions of homelessness, with minor variations.[4]

Some researchers maintain that measures to counteract homelessness in Sweden are largely dependent on a general premise equating homelessness with addiction, mental illness and deviance.[5] On the other hand, youth homelessness is considered a child protection problem.[6]

Surveys

The National Board of Health and Welfare (Swedish: Socialstyrelsen) has released a survey of homelessness every six years since 2011. They cover 4 groups of homeless people in Sweden:

  1. Acute homelessness

Lives in emergency housing, hostel, protected shelter or similar. Also includes living outside, in garages/stairwells/cellars/public places/attics/tents/cars or similar.

  1. Institution or assisted living, to leave within 3 months

People that are currently in housing for people with disabilities, compulsory care, youth care, foster care or imprisoned, but who has to leave within 3 months without any housing solution prepared.

  1. Long-term living arrangements organised by the Social Services

Housing solutions with a contract for housing combined with supervision, special rules and limited house ownership rights (Swedish: besittningsrätt|link=no).

  1. Private short-term living arrangement

Lives non-voluntarily, temporary and without a contract among friends or acquaintances and with family or relatives.

Survey results
Year Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Total Notes Reference
2011 Numbers are approximate.
2017 The total would be with 2023's methodology.
2023 The reported total is more than the sum of the groups.

Street newspapers

There are several street newspapers in Sweden. Situation Sthlm,[7] was founded in 1995 and was Sweden's only street newspaper until Faktum and Aluma were founded early in the 2000s.[8]

In 2006 the three street newspapers were awarded the grand prize of Publicistklubben (Swedish Publicists' Association).[9]

In 2013, a Swedish tech company created software for the homeless newspaper vendors to accept credit card payments via a mobile app.[10]

In art

In 2015, a Swedish art exhibition at Malmö Konsthall titled “The Alien Within: A Living Laboratory of Western Society” included two homeless people from Romania. The homeless people were not accepting money from visitors but were paid at hourly rate by the event organizers.[11]

Health

Researchers have found that excess mortality among homeless men and women in Stockholm is entirely related to alcohol and drug abuse.[12]

Some researchers have conducted studies on the oral health of homeless people in Sweden and found that they have fewer remaining teeth than the general population.[13]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A portrait of modern Sweden in ten statistics. 15 January 2015.
  2. Web site: Rebooting lives at the Homeless World Cup. Pang. Vichea. 2 September 2016.
  3. Busch-Geertsema, Volker. "Defining and measuring homelessness." Homelessness Research in Europe: Festschrift for Bill Edgar and Joe Doherty (2010): 19-39.
  4. Benjaminsen, Lars, and Evelyn Dyb. "The Effectiveness of Homeless Policies–Variations among the Scandinavian Countries." European Journal of Homelessness 2 (2008).
  5. Löfstrand, Cecilia Hansen. "Reforming the work to combat long-term homelessness in Sweden." Acta Sociologica 53, no. 1 (2010): 19-34.
  6. Healy, Karen, Tommy Lundström, and Marie Sallnäs. "A comparison of out-of-home care for children and young people in Australia and Sweden: Worlds apart?." Australian Social Work 64, no. 4 (2011): 416-431.
  7. News: De hemlösas tidningar prisades . subscription . The homeless' newspapers awarded . Holender . Robert . 2006-05-22 . . sv . 2009-02-11 .
  8. Web site: Boukhari . Sophie . The press takes to the street . . . 1999.
  9. News: Röster åt utsatta fick publicistpris . 2006-05-22 . . . sv . 2009-02-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060614004653/http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/ekot/arkiv.asp?DagensDatum=2006-05-22&Artikel=863076 . 2006-06-14 .
  10. Web site: Stockholm's homeless now accept payments - by debit card. Samuel. Gibbs. 18 October 2013. The Guardian.
  11. Web site: Are Homeless People Exploited in Swedish Art Installation? - artnet News. 2 February 2015.
  12. Beijer, Ulla, Sven Andreasson, Gunnar Ågren, and Anna Fugelstad. "Mortality and causes of death among homeless women and men in Stockholm." Scandinavian journal of public health 39, no. 2 (2011): 121-127.
  13. De Palma, Patricia, Lars Frithiof, Lena Persson, Björn Klinge, Jan Halldin, and Ulla Beijer. "Oral health of homeless adults in Stockholm, Sweden." Acta Odontologica Scandinavica 63, no. 1 (2005): 50-55.