Reduction of Homelessness in Finland and Japan
In Finland, there were roughly 16,000 people experiencing homelessness in 1989; by 2020, that figure had declined to about 4,000 persons. Finland is the only European Union country “that has experienced any decline in the number of homeless reported in the last ten years,” according to Greater Change, a UK-based homeless advocacy organization. Finland has considered housing as a fundamental human right that should be extended to every homeless person. In 2008, the Finnish government adopted the Housing First policy. The country has adopted several significant principles: (1) Homelessness policy transcends individual changes of government; (2) there is a broad coalition of national government, big cities, and NGOs working together; (3) at least 25 percent of housing in a Finnish city must be affordable, social housing; and (4) the adoption of the policy attitude that housing is a fundamental human right.
Helsinki, the nation’s capital and largest city (2016 population: 631,695) has had decades of progressive housing policy. The Municipality of Helsinki owns 70 percent of the land in the city, with over 60,000 housing units, with an increase of about 6,000 units per year. At least 25 percent of social housing is mixed in with housing in the private sector. Government reports have estimated that Finland saves about €15,000 a year when a homeless person is properly housed; otherwise, the expenses would be incurred through emergency health care, social services, and criminal justice interventions.
In Japan, the 2020 census of homeless persons was 3,992, or just 0.003 percent of the nation’s population. About 92 percent of all homeless persons are men over the age of fifty. Three overall factors contributed to Japan’s very low numbers: (1) its strict drug policies; (2) its mental health system; and (3) housing options. According to Tom Gill, a Japan-based social anthropologist, Japan has a much lower rate of homelessness than the United States because Japan has a much lower rate of drug use and drug addiction. One 2014 study showed that just 1.6 percent of Japanese had tried drugs (other than alcohol) in their lifetime; this compares with 50 percent of the American adult population having tried drugs sometime during their lifetimes. Illegal drugs in Japan are usually obtained only through gangsters and the black market.
The second key aspect of homelessness is mental illness. Homeless Hub, the web-based research portal of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, estimated that 30-35 percent of all people experiencing homelessness worldwide have mental illness. In Japan, a homeless person suffering from a mental illness is typically placed in a mental health facility, removing them from the streets. There are 269 psychiatric beds per 100,000 persons in Japan; in the United States, there are just 25 such beds. However, as the Borgen Project notes “a significant stigma revolves around mental health in Japan and the country sees one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Public insurance in Japan does not cover prescriptions for mental health medications such as antidepressants, and psychologists don’t always have enough training for their profession.”
The problem of homelessness in Japan dates to the collapse of the real estate bubble in 1990; the Japanese government did little to alleviate the problem at that time. But between 2018 and 2020, it took action. With the COVID pandemic and the widespread lockdowns, some of the refuges for homeless persons, cyber cafes, also had to close down. These facilities usually were open 24 hours a day, providing a wide range of services and conveniences, like television, computer games, food, and even showers. During the pandemic, the city of Tokyo, with the most homeless in the country, offered accommodations for homeless people in hotels that had reservation cancellations.
Sources: “Which Country Handlers Homelessness the Best?” Greater Change, September 21, 2022, https://www.greaterchange.co.uk/post/which-country-handles-homelessness-the-best#:~:text=In%20conclusion%2C%20while%20it%20may,that%20handles%20homelessness%20the%20best; Ella Hancock, “Helsinki is Still Leading the Way in Ending Homelessness—But How Are They Doing It?” World Habitat, October 2, 2022, https://world-habitat.org/news/our-blog/helsinki-is-still-leading-the-way-in-ending-homelessness-but-how-are-they-doing-it/. Sarah Eichstadt, The Borgen Project, “Japan’s Homeless Population,” Borgen Magazine, September 17, 2021, https://www.borgenmagazine.com/japans-homeless-population/. “Mental Illness,” Homeless Hub, https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/topics/mental-health. Edwardo Bravo, “Homelessness in Japan: The Country with the Smallest Percentage of Homeless People,” Tomorrow City, December 13, 2022.
