ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the development of the concept, the definition of homelessness and houselessness in Finland and the methodology of the survey. Finland belongs to the Nordic group of countries which has adopted a distinct type of social policy sometimes called ‘the Scandinavian model’. The responsibility for social policy lies with society, the public sector and the municipalities. The success of social policy has, at least until recently, been evaluated by the degree and depth of social exclusion, by how well exclusion has been avoided in the society. The local authorities were urged to draw up a housing programme for their areas and to take steps to improve the housing conditions of those in particularly poor conditions. The committee nevertheless pointed out that the homeless should also be examined by population group, above all because different laws were applied to measures affecting different groups, and the organisation of measures calls for different means.
