junkie panhandlers

[ciao_yall]

But isn't this a bit of a myth?

I saw obviously homeless folks in Finland and Canada for sure. Possibly not as bad of a problem.

Myth? It's the opposite of the truth.

Homeless per 10,000 inhabitants

UK      54
France  45
Sweden  36
Germany  31

USA      18

Interesting.

What is their definition of "homeless?" If someone is living in supportive housing or couch-surfing, do we still consider them homeless?

Or do they only consider people homeless if they live in shelters or tents?

[dismalist]

But isn't this a bit of a myth?

I saw obviously homeless folks in Finland and Canada for sure. Possibly not as bad of a problem.

Myth? It's the opposite of the truth.

Homeless per 10,000 inhabitants

UK      54
France  45
Sweden  36
Germany  31

USA      18

Interesting.

What is their definition of "homeless?" If someone is living in supportive housing or couch-surfing, do we still consider them homeless?

Or do they only consider people homeless if they live in shelters or tents?

The definitions vary by country. The OECD collects them.

The US has a narrow definition. An exact definitional match among the countries we are comparing the United States to are Canada, at 0.36%, double the United States, and France at 0.22%, a tad above the United States, say equal to.

[Ruralguy]

I will say that the apparently homeless man that I met in Finland was very polite and fluent in English.

[Wahoo Redux]

This is one of those things that can come from either end of the political spectrum. In Ontario, in the 90's, the push to get people out of mental institutions was from the left, concerned about their personal freedom. (The problem was that without additional community-based resources, many just became homeless.)

Reagan just closed the hospitals without a net of any sort.  It was not concern about people's freedom----which, as I posted to K16, is a pretty big issue and needs to be carefully monitored----it was a concern with money.