Nuestra NEBRIJA 32 - enero 2020

43 Unfortunately, the situation in countries surrounding Spain is not particularly better. The discouraging data provided in 2017 by FEANTSA (Fédération Européenne des Associations Nationales Travaillant avec les Sans-Abri) indicates substan- tial growth of poverty in almost all members of the European Union. Perhaps the most specta- cular are the figures from France, with a 50% in- crease between 2001 and 2012 (totalling 141,500 homeless people), Germany, with a 35% increase between 2012 and 2014 (totalling 335,000) and Luxembourg, with a growth of 61% between 2012 and 2016 (a total of 2,144). In addition, other percentages worth mentioning are 28% of Austria between 2008 and 2014 (to- talling 14,600 homeless people), 34% of Belgium between 2010 and 2014 (totalling 2,603), 23% from Denmark between 2009 and 2015 (a total of 6,138) or 24% from the Netherlands bet- ween 2013 and 2016 (totalling 31,000, of which 12,400 are people aged from 18 to 30). Despite such a bleak descrip- tion, there is room for hope. The discordant note to this negative trend is Finland, the only European country which has not only prevented the increase of indigence among its fellow citizens, but has even managed to reduce it. Although in the Nordic country there were still 6,700 homeless people in 2016, this figure represented a remarkable decrease of 10% compared to 2013. The key to Finnish success lies in the early action carried out by public agencies, prioritizing the in- tervention during the first phases of that new re- ality experienced by homeless in order to prevent the problem from becoming chronic. Otherwise, a situation of prolonged indigence could lead to a series of additional problems, such as psychological disorders (the most com- mon are depression, schizophrenia or alcoho- lism), consumption of toxic substances, increa- sing risk of contracting certain types of diseases or also a greater propensity to carry out certain illegal ac- tivities, all of them being se- rious impediments for affected people to redirect their lives. For this reason, the Finnish go- vernment has directly offered 16,300 apartments to homeless people, a servi- ce that has been complemented by a body of social workers who offer them additional help in various aspects. There is no doubt that the best way to combat ho- melessness is to focus on prevention, especially highlighting the role played by education (a facet in which Finland can also serve as an example). In economics, it is known as the “vicious circle of poverty” that situation in which, as a result of a series of conditions which perpetuate each other, the income obtained by a person is not sufficient to avoid a state of material insecurity. In this case, poor education will result in low productivity that, in turn, will lead to low wages which will not allow a sufficient level of consumption and, even less, adequate savings rates that enable the corresponding investment in human capital. Therefore, and in order to prevent an even more painful aggravation of this issue, it is especially relevant to meet the needs of the 12.3 million Spaniards who, even today, are at risk of social exclusion (26.1% of the population), of which 4.1 million support it severely (8%). If we add to this child poverty data, a circumstan- ce which afflicts 1 in 3 children in Spain, the pic- ture is sufficiently worrisome so that greater co- llective awareness contributes to undermine the invisibility of homeless. Economic growth, on its own, is not enough to combat the serious perforation caused by indi- gence in the social fabric and, consequently, a greater involvement by the corresponding admi- nistrative entities at its different levels is essential. Only then will we be able to put an end to all the personal strife that statistics so coldly hide. T he key to F innish success lies in early action of public institutions T he key to F innish success lies in early action of public institutions Article published in Huffingtonpost on November 26, 2019