A homeless man and social worker, in Bordeaux, August 24, 2023. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP
Does France have a higher proportion of homeless or poorly housed people than other European countries and does it stand out for the effectiveness – or ineffectiveness – of its policies? “It is difficult to compare, but the situation on these two points is rather worse than in other countries with comparable prosperity. And France, unlike some of its neighbors, is not making enough resources available to improve the situation, despite promising announcements,” summarizes Sarah Coupechoux, head of European missions at the Abbé Pierre Foundation. This observation is based on the eighth report “Looking at poor housing in Europe”, published on Tuesday September 5th by the French Foundation and the European Federation of National Organizations Working with Homeless People (Feantsa).
As for the number of homeless people, France, like most other European countries, is facing an increase in the number. After 2012, there is no sufficiently reliable data on the number of homeless people in the country, but just adding the people in emergency shelters and the people in shelters and social reintegration centers (CHRS) gives a total of 209,000 people.
This means that France has the highest rate of those affected (0.309% of the population), ahead of Germany (0.253%) and well above the average of the thirteen countries of the European Union (EU) whose statistics are sufficiently reliable (0.174%). calculated the authors of the report. “But we have to ensure that there are no children on the streets in Germany, while in France there are currently at least 2,000,” emphasizes Feantsa President Freek Spinnewijn.
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“Solving crises, not solving problems”
The observed increases are not inevitable. “Finland and Denmark have managed to significantly reduce the number of homeless people on their territory,” the report recalls. “They are pursuing a long-term, consensual policy, while France has turned homelessness into a humanitarian problem by creating an important emergency system, which is undoubtedly politically more profitable as it allows crises to be resolved without being able to solve the problem.” , analyzes Nicolas Horvat, associate researcher at Feantsa.
However, France has convinced several of its neighbors to change its approach by showing in a comparative study that it is making savings thanks to its “Home First” system, which consists of offering normal housing to homeless people with mental disorders, with great difficulties, to accompany them.
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