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Measuring Homelessness

!NEW! European Review of Statistics on Homelessness (Edgar, 2009)

The European Review of Statistics has two main objectives.  First, it collates the development of ideas relating to the measurement of homelessness and housing exclusion in Europe that were presented in previous publications of the European Observatory on Homelessness.  This should provide a single source of reference for those interested in the topic.  Second, it updates information on homelessness and housing exclusion for all those member states for which information is available.  

The report is presented in four main sections.  Section 1 examines the issues involved in measuring homelessness in Europe. Section 2 examines the governance of data collection. Section 3 considers some emerging issues in relation to data collection on HHE in Europe. Finally, Section 4 provides an overview of the information currently available in each country in Europe in relation to the ETHOS categories (rooflessness, houselessness, insecure housing, inadequate housing).

For more information on measuring homelessness:

ETHOS - the European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion

This one-page typology was developed as a means of improving understanding and measurement of homelessness in Europe and classifies homeless people according to four living situations - rooflessness, houselessness, insecure housing and inadequate housing. Now available in 13 EU languages ETHOS has been adopted widely in Europe and recently as far afield as New Zealand ETHOS Frequently Asked Questions

MPHASIS - Mutual Progress on Homelessness through Advancing and Strengthening Information Systems

The project evolved as a follow-up to a one year "Measurement of Homelessness at European Union Level" study carried out for the European Commission in 2007. MPHASIS aimed to explore how the recommendations of this study on the development of national homelessness information strategies and on data collection could be implemented in practice and what obstacles needed to be overcome.

 EU Peer Reviews

Austria 2009
Counting the homeless – improving the basis for planning assistance was the theme of the Peer Review meeting that took place in Vienna, Austria on 12-13 November 2009. The City ofVienna and the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection hosted the event, which aimed to examine and share instruments for data collection, and strategies to counter homelessness across Europe

FEANTSA's Data collection working group

Founded over 10 years ago, the Data collection working group is a pool of experts who exchange information on data collection methodologies, monitor relevant EU developments, and steer FEANTSA’s strategy on homelessness data collection.