Since 2008, homelessness rates in Finland have dropped by 75%.
It’s a feat that is even more remarkable when noting that their method of counting — and defining homelessness — is much more inclusive than other leading countries.
In Finland, for example, homelessness statistics include individuals temporarily living with friends and relatives, living in an institution, staying in hostels, congregate shelters, and “rough sleeping” outside on the streets.
Their complex method of counting homeless populations goes hand-in-hand with the country’s “Housing First” method of approaching homelessness, by recognizing that homelessness is not a black-and-white discussion — it’s a systemic issue that can manifest in a variety of ways.
In 2017, the Y-Foundation — which promotes social justice by providing affordable housing to low-income families as Finland’s “fourth-largest landlord” — released a 128-page report on successful Housing First policies.
The foundation said that Finland’s success in lowering homelessness rates can largely be attributed to the country’s “Name On The Door” approach, which was introduced to Finland’s Minister for Housing in 2007.
The methodology made a sound argument for ending homelessness from a moral, legal, and economic perspective.
“The ethical perspective means that homelessness has to be eliminated because human dignity belongs to everyone. A home is a human right,” the Y-Foundation surmised.
“The legal perspective emphasizes, for example, that according to the Constitution of Finland, anyone who is unable to acquire the necessary security for a dignified life is entitled to essential subsistence and care.”
“Eliminating homelessness is also a worthwhile investment in terms of the social economy,” the nonprofit added. “The report states that the economic conditions for eliminating long-term homelessness were better than ever (in 2007).”
Reducing homelessness has been a source of pride for the country’s leaders for nearly two decades.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Helsinki Mayor Juhana Vartiainen said that Housing First is “the right way to fight the problem of homelessness.”
“That’s really the fundamental idea of our policy,’ Vartiainen said, “if we give people a home, there will be very positive side-effects.”
In the last year, national cuts to income, social security, and housing support have resulted in the first notable change to homelessness trends in over 11 years.
“Helsinki has been exceptionally successful in reducing homelessness in previous years and has ensured a downward trend in the national figures,” Teija Ojankoski, CEO of the Y-Foundation, said in a press release.
“Now the number of homeless people [has] increased in Helsinki, even though an impressive number of homeless people were housed during the year.”
“Helsinki undoubtedly has the best homelessness work in the world and the results have spoken for themselves,” the CEO added. “Now it seems that so many people end up homeless that services simply cannot keep up.”
Even with the slight rise in homelessness seen locally in 2024, Finland estimates that 3,806 citizens are currently experiencing homelessness (about 0.06% of the Finnish population).
In comparison, over 771,480 Americans were counted as unhoused in January 2025 (about 0.2% of the US population).
Regardless of short-term challenges, the “Housing First” approach is still at the core of the organization’s mission.
The Y-Foundation’s head of international affairs, Juha Kahila, told The Globe and Mail: “When people have a roof over their heads, they can overcome the challenges they have in their lives and not have to worry about where they will sleep that night or where they will live next month.”
Header image via Simo Räsänen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
