HOMELESSNESS AMONG IMMIGRANT YOUTH: TRANSITIONS BETWEEN INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION

Long-term homelessness has fallen dramatically in the past twenty years in Finland. The government has approved a national program to reduce homelessness and eliminate long-term homelessness by 2015. The demographic profile... [ view full abstract ]

Long-term homelessness has fallen dramatically in the past twenty years in Finland. The government has approved a national program to reduce homelessness and eliminate long-term homelessness by 2015.

The demographic profile of Finland’s homeless population is changing. Society is now facing new forms of homelessness. In the past, long-term homeless people made up the ‘hard core’ of homelessness. Today, young immigrants have become a growing subgroup of the homeless population. The number of homeless people has decreased in all categories except people living temporarily with friends and relatives. In 2013, there were nearly 2,000 homeless immigrants, exceeding 25 % of the total number of homeless people. Immigrants accounted for over 60 % of homeless families. In Helsinki, the number of homeless immigrants’ rose by 450 persons during the year.

In my research I am asking: what are the routes and path which lead youth immigrant ending up homeless? What are young peoples’ reactions to social exclusion and what are their strategies in order to avoid it? What are the transitions between inclusion and exclusion?

My research focuses in metropolitan areas and it is funded by the Helsinki Metropolitan Region Urban Research Program. Learning about homelessness from the youth themselves can facilitate the development of service systems within the public and private sector. My research also seeks to identify whether homelessness among immigrant youth is associated with societal or cultural phenomena as well as the factors that should be considered in the prevention of homelessness and in the provision of supportive housing services.