Finland govt policy increases risk of homelessness: Amnesty

By AFP

Cuts to Finland's social security benefits heighten the risk of becoming homeless, Amnesty International told AFP Thursday, after the country reported the first rise in homelessness in over a decade earlier this year.

Finland is globally recognised for its "Housing First" model, a social concept that successfully reduced homelessness by up to 80 percent between 1980 and 2023.

Last year however, the country saw a rise in homelessness for the first time in 12 years, according to Finnish housing authority Ara.

Amnesty's new report, released this week, found that cuts to social security benefits introduced by the right-wing government have eroded social safety nets that previously reduced homelessness.

"This is a really unfortunate change," Mariko Sato, an economic and social rights expert at Amnesty International who authored the report, told AFP.

"Amnesty has used Finland as an international example of a human rights-based policy that safeguards people's right to housing," she added.

Finland's government, led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, came into power in 2023 and has introduced cuts to social security benefits at higher rate compared to previous administrations.

It is trying to balance Finland's public finances and reduce the country's national debt.

As a result of the cuts, increasing numbers of people in low-income groups now see their right to adequate housing threatened, the report said.

This now included working people, who were previously rarely at risk of experiencing inadequate housing in Finland, the report noted.

"Over a billion euros of implemented and planned cuts to social security have already affected people and families with low income very quickly and very widely," said Sato.

"More and more low-income people now have an insecure housing situation and the government is planning further cuts, which will affect the same people," she added.

While the government has dropped the country's goal of eliminating all forms of homelessness, it aims to have ended long-term homelessness by 2027.