Wikipedia

Homelessness in Sweden

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

A homeless person's bed in Göteborg, Sweden, 2013.

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

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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
Year Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Total Notes Reference
2011 4500 5600 13900 6800 30800 Numbers are approximate.
[7]
2017 5935 4899 15838 5726 32398 The total would be 30090 with 2023's methodology.
[8]
2023 4436 2713 16878 3209 27383 The reported total is 147 more than the sum of the groups.
[9]

Street newspapers

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Street newspaper vendor in Stockholm

There are several street newspapers in Sweden. Situation Sthlm,[10] was founded in 1995 and was Sweden's only street newspaper until Faktum and Aluma were founded early in the 2000s.[11]

In 2006 the three street newspapers were awarded the grand prize of Publicistklubben (Swedish Publicists' Association).[10][12]

In 2013, a Swedish tech company created software for the homeless newspaper vendors to accept credit card payments via a mobile app.[13]

In art

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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.[14]

Health

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Researchers have found that excess mortality among homeless men and women in Stockholm is entirely related to alcohol and drug abuse.[15]

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.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "A portrait of modern Sweden in ten statistics". 15 January 2015.
  2. ^ Vichea, Pang (2 September 2016). "Rebooting lives at the Homeless World Cup".
  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. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "Kartläggning av hemlösheten 2023" [Mapping of the homelessness 2023] (PDF) (in Swedish). National Board of Health and Welfare. 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  10. ^ a b Holender, Robert (2006-05-22). "De hemlösas tidningar prisades" [The homeless' newspapers awarded]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  11. ^ Boukhari, Sophie (1999). "The press takes to the street" (PDF). The UNESCO Courier. UNESCO.
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ Gibbs, Samuel (18 October 2013). "Stockholm's homeless now accept payments - by debit card" – via The Guardian.
  14. ^ "Are Homeless People Exploited in Swedish Art Installation? - artnet News". 2 February 2015.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ 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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