ABSTRACT
Mary Daly introduces us to the (different) theories of comparative welfare studies trying to apply those systematic approaches to the issue of homelessness. Jan Vranken discusses the prerequisites and forms of a functional policy on homelessness. Before we have a policy on a social phenomenon this phenomenon must be recognised as ‘a social problem’. According to Vranken the efforts to solve the problem can be categorised into four policy models – different from those that Daly used for her analysis: a right to housing model; the public housing policy model; the solidarity model; and the social exclusion model. The public housing policy model focuses on the provisions of means to ensure the availability of adequate housing. In Finland homelessness has been considered and treated as – in the first place – a housing problem while in Denmark, due to the housing policy, homelessness is considered a social problem.
