ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some dimensions of the societal meaning of homelessness by researching the relationship between nations’ configuration of social policies and their approach to homelessness. It examines whether and how variations in homelessness are related to variations in social policy. The chapter describes and classifies the social policy approaches of the different Member States. It analyses the relationship and patterning which exists between homelessness and different approaches to social policy within the European Union. To a large extent, the four models of European social policy are differentiated from each other by the degree of state intervention, and, in turn, the effects and effectiveness of public policies. These models are Nordic model, continental European model, liberal model, and Mediterranean model. The degree of variation which exists within the Union is very striking, in regard to both poverty and long-term unemployment.
