380k homeless in UK. 262k in Germany. 122k Australia. 650k in USA. The per capita math is left for the reader but I don't believe there is much distinction here .
You're right, the numbers are very close to recent official figures. I looked them up to calculate the per capita rates. So USA is actually better than other countries? Kind of defeats these arguments here - interesting. (By the way I’m not from us)
Based on the latest available data (mostly 2023) and current population estimates:
* *UK:* ~56.0 per 10,000 people (1 in 178)
* *Australia:* ~45.4 per 10,000 people (1 in 220) [using 2021 census data]
* *Germany:* ~31.0 per 10,000 people (1 in 323)
* *USA:* ~19.4 per 10,000 people (1 in 515)
The per capita distinction is more significant than the raw numbers suggest.
(Note: Methodologies for counting vary by country, which can affect direct comparisons.)
Your last paragraph is doing a LOT of heavy lifting. TLDR: the US figures should be WAY higher if you expand the definition of homelessness like those other countries do.
More research shows the U.S. rate looks lower largely because it uses a narrow, one-night "Point In Time" measure that excludes many precarious living situations other countries intentionally count. If you harmonise definitions, the U.S. does not outperform high-safety-net countries; on unsheltered homelessness in particular, it fares worse.
In UK official usage, being legally homeless often includes people the state is actively accommodating; it is not limited to street homelessness like the US PIT figure. In Australia, their figures include couch surfing (staying temporarily with other households and those in “severely crowded” dwellings). In Germany, apart from again having a more expansive definition of homelessness, their figures also include ~130k Ukrainian refugees.
Just one example: the US figures should at least include >1.2 million students experiencing homelessness.
also, despite being homeless people in germany can get financial support and healthcare, which was the original point about the fear of losing your job. and losing your job in germany does not make you homeless. you'd have to get evicted from your home (but not for failing to pay rent, as you would cover that with the financial support) so the group that is being talked about in the original paragraph that fears losing their job, and the group that is homeless in germany have nothing to do with each other, because the first group does not exist. most of tho homeless in germany never had a job to begin with.
