I definitely want to echo wkat4242’s answers: - Most of your concerns are already taken care of by healthcare, notably psychiatry that is free and well funded

I definitely want to echo wkat4242’s answers: - Most of your concerns are already taken care of by healthcare, notably psychiatry that is free and well funded (people who work there would disagree, but everyone who needs to see a doctor will), social services (same), unemployment and professional training programs. - It’s below freezing most of the year. There cannot be any rough sleeping: either you are inside, or people pick up your frozen body in the morning. If you end up too drunk to go home (which happens alarmingly often: substance abuse is a huge problem, more than anywhere else) hospitals have drunk tanks and Police officers or ambulances will be more than happy to drive you there before you hurt yourself or others. They are not uncomfortable, just… “easy to clean” and in an odd pink colour. You get coffee in the morning. What that program actually did was admit that shelters were not working and replaced them with individual flats. Finns’ staunch individualism probably explain that more than anything. (It also explains the substance abuse… anyway.) - I’m not sure that how rural Finland is super relevant, but it is true: the country was going through rural exodus (what happened in the UK in early 19th century) _this decade_; it doesn’t really mean there’s a village life that disappeared (people don’t talk to their neighbours) but it has contributed to a big real estate boom. Outside of two streets in downtown Helsinki, there isn’t a building that wasn’t built recently—as in, with internet. Therefore, having slats for homeless people is actually a small fraction of the new homes. The second key thing about Finns (after their lack of social appetite) is their passion for design. Key people in the country: famous people, CEOs, etc. are designers, the way famous people in France, Germany, China, Japan and Korea are engineers and lawyers in the UK and US. > your shelter for one man will end up being a flophouse for a rotating cast of shady types, and poor housekeeping skills definitely become operative here That’s the thing: all flats are well designed and minimalistic. There isn’t much you can damage. This might change as the real estate portfolio ages, but it’s not a major concern now–not compared to having to step over a frozen body in the morning. The 20% is because, even if the program is summarised as “give them a home”, they are not signing title documents on day 1. They likely need help, so while they are de facto occupants with full rights to develop their sense of belonging, on paper they still have a status that roughly translates to ‘homeless’ and formally, they rent for a minimal amount and hardly any eviction clauses.