Skip to main content
Street Roots Donate
Portland, Oregon's award-winning weekly street newspaper
For those who can't afford free speech
Twitter Facebook RSS Vimeo Instagram
▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
  • Advertise with Us
  • Contact
  • Job Openings
  • Donate
  • About
  • future home
  • Vendors
  • Rose City Resource
  • Advocacy
  • Support
News
  • News
  • Housing
  • Environment
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Orange Fence Project
  • Podcasts
  • Vendor Profiles
  • Archives
Luminita Muntreanu is a vendor with Iso Numero, a street paper in Finland. Thanks to a program called Housing First, Finland has bucked the European trend of rising homelessness, seeing a 10 percent drop in the number of homeless single people in 2013-16. However, the progress has been challenged by increased immigration, says Janne Hukke, Iso Numero's editor. Residency status may exclude immigrants from Finnish social services. (Photo courtesy of Iso Numero, Finland)

Homeless rates increasing across Europe

Street Roots
New campaign will push EU policymakers to do more to put an end to homelessness
by Laura Kelly | 5 May 2017

Homelessness grabs a lot of headlines in Portland, but it’s without question a global issue. The United States homeless figure continues to hover at more than a half a million people in recent years. Meanwhile, countries across Europe are seeing a disturbing trend.

According to a new report from EU housing organization Feansta, European countries are facing a homelessness and housing exclusion “crisis.”

Launched in the European Parliament in Brussels in late March, the Second Overview of Housing Exclusion in Europe reveals alarming trends in homelessness in the majority of European Union countries.

“Homelessness is increasing in almost all countries,” said Feantsa director Freek Spinnewijn. “Relative poverty is going down in Europe, but extreme poverty – and, notably, homelessness – is going up, and going up very fast. This is an emergency, and action is needed.”

Feansta’s report, created in conjunction with French housing charity Fondation Abbé Pierre, brings together a series of studies that paint a troubling picture of housing exclusion.

Germany has seen a 35 percent increase in homeless people in two years. In Austria the number of people registered as homeless has gone up by 28 percent in six years.

In the U.K., 7 percent more people were sleeping rough in London between 2015 and 2016. Spain has seen an increase in homelessness of 5 percent in seven years, while Italy has seen an increase of 6 percent in six years.

In response, Feantsa has launched a new campaign, “Be Fair, Europe – Stand Up for Homeless People,” to push EU policymakers to do more to put an end to homelessness, including using European funds on homelessness-reduction programs. The International Network of Street Papers, of which Street Roots is a member, is a media partner on the campaign. 

“We want the European Union to stand up for the rights of homeless people,” Spinnewijn said. “Homelessness is not currently looked at as a fundamental rights violation. I think there is room for the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights to start doing that.”

Graphic: Homelessness in Europe
Evidence from across Europe points to worsening homelessness situation. Finland is the only exception, showing the effectiveness of implementing a long-term homelessness strategy. (Note: These statistics are not comparable; the sources and methodologies differ.)
Source: Second Overview of Housing Exclusion in Europe 2017

Courtesy of INSP.ngo

Tags: 
International Network of Street Papers
  • Print

More like this

  • Mayors across U.S. are pushing for a guaranteed income
  • A conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
  • Opinion | ‘Bigger than me and larger than life’
  • Director's Desk: Yes, Portland has the energy to fight homelessness
  • Vendor profile: 'I worked using discipline and knowledge'
▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
  • © 2021 Street Roots. All rights reserved. To request permission to reuse content, email editor@streetroots.org.
  • Read Street Roots' commenting policy
  • Support Street Roots
  • Our Annual Breakfast Broadcast will stream live at 8 AM, October 5th! Click the button to RSVP, donate and learn more about our biggest event of the year.

  • LEARN MORE