New report: Homeless EU citizens are met with an inferior, parallel welfare system

Based on interviews with professionals, volunteers, a literature review, and an examination of public documents, the report takes a critical look at the conditions surrounding the services that engage with and assist homeless EU citizens:

“The professionals express pride in fulfilling an important societal role, yet many also describe feelings of overwhelming responsibility and helplessness” Anne-Sofie says reflecting on the conversations she and Per have had over the past year with various social workers. She continues:

“They observe, among other things, severe health issues among the target group. Healthcare personnel are often only able to stabilise them or relieve their pain, as many of the EU citizens lack a Danish social security number and therefore are only entitled to emergency medical treatment.”. Per adds:

“Among professionals in healthcare services, we hear that many homeless EU citizens are so-called ‘repeaters.’ They are discharged to the streets before their treatment is completed, and therefore they are quickly hospitalized again when their condition inevitably worsens. It’s completely unreasonable”.

This results in difficult working conditions for the dedicated staff, who are often only able to offer limited forms of assistance and, in many cases, must remain flexible, ask partners and colleagues to make exceptions, or even streatch the boundaries of the law to provide any help at all.

This is not without consequences, the report shows:

“When staff do this, they inadvertently help sustain a system in which their services become part of an informal safety net — one that, in exceptional cases, offers only the bare minimum of support, to prevent things from going completely wrong when society excludes certain groups from the formal welfare system”, explains Anne-Sofie. Per adds:

“Ultimately, we believe that the root of the problem lies in a lack of political responsibility. Danish politicians’ approach to homeless EU citizens keeps them in degrading conditions — the very situations that professionals are trying to mitigate. In this way, both staff and the homeless EU citizen are caught in a negative spiral.”

The report describes how political reluctance and strong signals regarding assistance for poor and marginalized EU citizens has led to a predominant focus on residence status. As a result, some social and healthcare workers find themselves acting as border guards. Rather than simply assessing needs related to shelter, food, care, support, or treatment, they feel compelled to determine whether the person has a legal right to stay in the country.

No one benefits from the current model. It is unjust that people experiencing homelessness are denied access to adequate support from the established welfare system – and equally unjust that frontline staff are the ones who must deny them that support. This is why the authors hope both policymakers and practitioners will engage with the report:

“The report’s findings may not come as a surprise to our partners or other professionals familiar with the situation of homeless EU citizens in Denmark. But taken together, they highlight the political approach to this group and the undignified, unsustainable conditions it produces in practice. We hope the report will draw attention to the existence of a parallel welfare system and serve as a stepping stone toward a collective demand for improved working conditions. Ultimately, our goal is to break with the inadequate assistance currently offered to homeless EU citizens.”