6. Why can we not eradicate homelessness

There have always been people living on the street. It is amazing how, even in rich welfare societies, there will still be people who become excluded, either by their own actions or because society cannot contain them. These end up in the streets as homeless. Indications are that the group most vulnerable to the risk of homelessness is that of the socially weak or stigmatised.
For many years, middle-aged males with alcohol problems have been at the highest risk of becoming homeless, but throughout the last 20 years, people with mental illness and people with substance abuse have grown considerably in numbers among the homeless, in Denmark as well as in other European countries and in the U.S.A. In the big cities in Denmark as well as in other countries, people of other ethnic backgrounds are beginning to show up at the shelters. During the last 20 years, the average age among homeless people has fallen and there are no indications that the problem of homelessness will be solved within the near future.

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