These lists are almost always useless for comparisons since the definitions between countries vary so widely.
edit: Digging into the sources, the US has 6.4 unsheltered homeless per 10k, but Sweden doesn't even track unsheltered homeless, the most acute category (at 4.5/10k) also contains people in immediate access shelter/hospice.
This is a fair point. To Wikipedia's credit, I think it's adequately addressed in the article I linked.
I think a more general statement could be made. It's nearly useless to make comparisons between countries. The United States cannot adopt Swedish policies and expect to achieve Swedish outcomes. I'd much prefer we discuss policies for our countries in our own contexts rather than introducing comparisons between them.
The parent comment introduced a comparison, though. So, I think it's only fair to introduce some form of statistics.
Thanks for providing a more founded empirical interpretation of the facts! It seems Sweden has some edge on the USA, but the original claim (that it's almost impossible to be homeless in Sweden) still seems as unfounded as I expected.
As another commentator noted, I think climate is something to consider. I expect that you'll find higher concentrations of shelter-less people in more temperate (or at least warm) places. Cultures will evolve to prevent people from needlessly dying, but we aren't inclined to give more than the bare minimum.
> The United States cannot adopt Swedish policies and expect to achieve Swedish outcomes. I'd much prefer we discuss policies for our countries in our own contexts rather than introducing comparisons between them.
And this isn't what anyone seriously proposing for the US to take control of its social issues to do. The mention of other countries usually is just to show it can be done, to be inspired by it and forge your own way to solve social issues.
I don't know why it's usually taken in this absolutist view, where solutions should be implemented as-is because it worked somewhere else. It worked, get inspired by it and figure a way out of the hole in your own local environment...
Yeah, Sweden and the US are different, people are still people and have some overlapping needs, learn how others have done instead of this hubris of "we're different". Everyone is.
edit: Digging into the sources, the US has 6.4 unsheltered homeless per 10k, but Sweden doesn't even track unsheltered homeless, the most acute category (at 4.5/10k) also contains people in immediate access shelter/hospice.