197 people sleep on the streets of Luxembourg City – the new homeless census

The government aims to provide more targeted support and address the needs of the most vulnerable population by doing an annual count

Today, local authorities in Luxembourg City announced the results of its first homeless census. On 26 October 2022, 66 professional social workers walked the streets of the city between 5 PM and midnight, counting the homeless. The final count was 197 individuals.

The initiative was a project of the Ministry for Integration and it represents a concerted effort on behalf of authorities to address the issue. Expert counters also used a short questionnaire to profile people and provide data. In turn, the census would help authorities tailor their response to the homeless more directly, including housing-first schemes, employment schemes or permanent settlement schemes.

The demographics of homelessness in Luxembourg City

According to an official statement, during the count, the 66 social workers split into 32 teams to walk the 24 districts of Luxembourg. They found 197 people in total, 142 in the street, 38 in emergency accommodation and 17 in the hospital.

Of these, 169 were men and 28 were women and the average age of homeless people in Luxembourg’s capital is 42. Around a quarter were Luxembourg nationals, while 83% were European. The majority (58%) reported living on the streets for more than a year while 82% reported having access to support from social services.

Only 130 people agreed to be interviewed, nevertheless, painting a rich picture of the demographic. 90 people responded that their primary concern was finding housing while 66 out of 130 said they want to focus on finding a job.

Minister for Integration Corinne Cahen was quoted in a press statement explaining that, while finding a job is not impossible, it is very hard to do without an address. Additionally, living on the streets makes it very hard to keep down a job.

She continued by pointing out that the government should expand its housing-first scheme (providing the homeless with housing before all other social services) as only 32 people, suffering from addiction or with increased medical needs currently benefit from a similar arrangement.

Authorities have said that they will continue to monitor the development and the effect of different policies by continuing the census. The next ones are scheduled for May 2023 and December 2023.