Shelter organizations for the homeless in North Holland do not agree with the reporting from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) about the decreased number of homeless people in the Netherlands. “I find it very special, we really see the opposite,” says Hil Rabenberg, director of the dnoDoen shelter organization.
According to figures from Statistics Netherlands, the Netherlands had an estimated 26,600 homeless people between the ages of 18 and 65 last year. The year before that would have been 32,000. Although it is a national figure, Rabenberg cannot imagine that the region covered by dnoDoen deviates very much from the rest of the Netherlands.
His organization is located in Alkmaar, Den Helder, Hoorn and Zaanstad. “We see it in the figures,” Rabenberg explains. “In Alkmaar, our 24-hour shelter moved to a larger location last June. We went from 26 places to 46 places. That new location was immediately full. And it’s not just the numbers. Look on the street and you’ll see it.”
“Look on the street and you’ll see it!”
According to Statistics Netherlands, 38 percent of homeless people are registered in one of the big four cities in the Netherlands. HVO-Querido provides shelter and guidance for homeless people in Amsterdam, Haarlem and regional municipalities. Director Douwe van Riet told the ANP that in his organization ‘the exact opposite is seen in practice’ than what the CBS figures say. Van Riet: “We see that many more people are living on the street. The pressure on our day and night shelters is increasing.”
The number of homeless people is also increasing, according to the Salvation Army in Amsterdam. “We do not recognize the decline. The CBS figures give a distorted picture,” a spokesperson said.
Public housing and austerity
The shelter organizations all mention the public housing problem as one of the causes of the increase in the number of homeless people. “And the cutbacks in healthcare also play a role,” says Rabenberg. “It has therefore become more difficult to provide the right help to seriously addicted people or people with serious psychological complaints. As a result, the problems often increase further and people also end up on the street.”
According to Rabenberg, there is also an increase in economic homeless, which dnoDoen does not accommodate. “They will actually be added. These are people who have run into problems after a divorce, for example. But if they have no other, additional problems, then we cannot offer them a place,” says the director.
‘There is no contradiction at all’
Despite other reports from practice – also in other regions in the Netherlands – CBS maintains that there is a decrease. “We think it’s a shame that it seems like there is a contradiction, because there isn’t one at all,” says Tanja Traag of CBS. “We know that there are more people in day and night shelters. And we mention that. But there is also a group that falls outside this. That is a group of homeless people that is less visible. To some extent you have to determine the size of estimate that group and that makes it more difficult. But that group is getting smaller and so we arrive at a smaller total number.”
“We must also remember that last year’s measurement date is January 1, 2022,” says Traag. “The figures are based on that moment. Of course, things can change afterwards.”