Homelessness in Sweden

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A homeless person's bed in Gothenburg, Sweden, 2013. Homeless bed.jpg
A homeless person's bed in Gothenburg, Sweden, 2013.

Homelessness in Sweden affects around 27,000 people. [1]

Contents

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. [2] The three countries have very similar definitions of homelessness, with minor variations. [3]

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. [4] On the other hand, youth homelessness is considered a child protection problem. [5]

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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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).
  4. Private short-term living arrangement
    Lives non-voluntarily, temporary and without a contract among friends or acquaintances and with family or relatives.
Survey results
YearGroup 1Group 2Group 3Group 4TotalNotesReference
20114500560013900680030800Numbers are approximate.
[6]
20175935489915838572632398The total would be 30090 with 2023's methodology.
[7]
20234436271316878320927383The reported total is 147 more than the sum of the groups.
[1]

Street newspapers

Street newspaper vendor in Stockholm Situation Sthlm vendor Stockholm.jpg
Street newspaper vendor in Stockholm

There are several street newspapers in Sweden. Situation Sthlm , [8] was founded in 1995 and was Sweden's only street newspaper until Faktum and Aluma were founded early in the 2000s. [9]

In 2006 the three street newspapers were awarded the grand prize of Publicistklubben (Swedish Publicists' Association). [8] [10]

In 2013, a Swedish tech company created software for the homeless newspaper vendors to accept credit card payments via a mobile app. [11]

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. [12]

Health

Researchers have found that excess mortality among homeless men and women in Stockholm is entirely related to alcohol and drug abuse. [13]

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. [14]

References

  1. 1 2 "Kartläggning av hemlösheten 2023" [Mapping of the homelessness 2023](PDF) (in Swedish). National Board of Health and Welfare. 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  2. ↑ Busch-Geertsema, Volker. "Defining and measuring homelessness." Homelessness Research in Europe: Festschrift for Bill Edgar and Joe Doherty (2010): 19-39.
  3. ↑ Benjaminsen, Lars, and Evelyn Dyb. "The Effectiveness of Homeless Policies–Variations among the Scandinavian Countries." European Journal of Homelessness 2 (2008).
  4. ↑ Löfstrand, Cecilia Hansen. "Reforming the work to combat long-term homelessness in Sweden." Acta Sociologica 53, no. 1 (2010): 19-34.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ Hemlöshet och utestängning från bostadsmarknaden 2011 [Homelessness and exclusion from the housing market 2011](PDF) (in Swedish). National Board of Health and Welfare. 2011. ISBN   9789186885786 . Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  7. ↑ Hemlöshet 2017 – omfattning och karaktär [Homelessness 2017 – extent and substance](PDF) (in Swedish). National Board of Health and Welfare. 2017. ISBN   9789175554372 . Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  8. 1 2 Holender, Robert (2006-05-22). "De hemlösas tidningar prisades" [The homeless' newspapers awarded]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  9. ↑ Boukhari, Sophie (1999). "The press takes to the street" (PDF). The UNESCO Courier . UNESCO.
  10. ↑ "Röster åt utsatta fick publicistpris". Ekot (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 2006-05-22. Archived from the original on 2006-06-14. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  11. ↑ Gibbs, Samuel (18 October 2013). "Stockholm's homeless now accept payments - by debit card". The Guardian.
  12. ↑ "Are Homeless People Exploited in Swedish Art Installation? - artnet News". 2 February 2015.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
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