Homelessness in Sweden affects some 34,000 people.[1][2]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Homeless_bed.jpg/220px-Homeless_bed.jpg)
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
editThe 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- Private short-term living arrangement
- Lives non-voluntarily, temporary and without a contract among friends or acquaintances and with family or relatives.
Year | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Total | Notes | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | 4500 | 5600 | 13900 | 6800 | 30800 | Numbers are approximate. | |
2017 | 5935 | 4899 | 15838 | 5726 | 32398 | The total would be 30090 with 2023's methodology. | |
2023 | 4436 | 2713 | 16878 | 3209 | 27383 | The reported total is 147 more than the sum of the groups. |
Street newspapers
editThere 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
editIn 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
editResearchers 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
edit- ^ "A portrait of modern Sweden in ten statistics". 15 January 2015.
- ^ Vichea, Pang (2 September 2016). "Rebooting lives at the Homeless World Cup".
- ^ Busch-Geertsema, Volker. "Defining and measuring homelessness." Homelessness Research in Europe: Festschrift for Bill Edgar and Joe Doherty (2010): 19-39.
- ^ Benjaminsen, Lars, and Evelyn Dyb. "The Effectiveness of Homeless Policies–Variations among the Scandinavian Countries." European Journal of Homelessness 2 (2008).
- ^ Löfstrand, Cecilia Hansen. "Reforming the work to combat long-term homelessness in Sweden." Acta Sociologica 53, no. 1 (2010): 19-34.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Kartläggning av hemlösheten 2023" [Mapping of the homelessness 2023] (PDF) (in Swedish). National Board of Health and Welfare. 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
- ^ a b Holender, Robert (2006-05-22). "De hemlösas tidningar prisades" [The homeless' newspapers awarded]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-02-11.
- ^ Boukhari, Sophie (1999). "The press takes to the street" (PDF). The UNESCO Courier. UNESCO.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Gibbs, Samuel (18 October 2013). "Stockholm's homeless now accept payments - by debit card" – via The Guardian.
- ^ "Are Homeless People Exploited in Swedish Art Installation? - artnet News". 2 February 2015.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.