In 2023, almost 50 % of Finnish people reported high or moderately high trust in the national government, above the OECD average of 39% (OECD 2024, 24). Moreover, Finland is still among the five countries with the highest level of perception of justice among those who identify themselves as belonging to a marginalized group. However, women and younger people have lower trust in government than older people (50+) and men (OECD 2024, 75). In other words, women were less likely to feel confident in their ability to participate in politics, and to believe they have a political voice (OECD 2024, 60).
Trust is a multi-level phenomenon, and in homeless work it can be seen as part of policymaking, local governance, processes and structures, but also at the grassroots level in the client-worker interaction (Raatikainen 2015). For instance, according to Beilmann and Lilleoja (2015) social trust is a kind of optimism towards the trustworthiness of others. Trust involves taking risks (Eckel & Wilson 2004), but it can create faith in the future, especially if you already have trusting experiences in life. It is necessary to better understand how professionals view homelessness and the situation of homeless people in Finland, because without this fundamental understanding, we may not achieve the most essential goals in addressing homelessness, and at worst, the solutions may worsen the everyday lives of homeless people.
In this article, we discuss trust in homelessness work as described by social care professionals. In this article, we ask professionals working with homelessness what they think about trust and its significance in the lives of homeless people. This article is part of a series of texts discussing homelessness and related phenomena as described by social welfare experts (Raatikainen 2025). In this article we present results from Living Labs held at Metropolia in April 2025. Living Labs were part of the COMHOM project (COMHOM 2025); they were implemented with the same content in Finland, Greece, and Ireland during spring 2025.
Living Labs projects will be implemented three times during the project. The aim of the first Living Labs project was to collect research data on homelessness. In the future, the aim of Living Labs will be to find solutions and utilize this information as part of a broader theoretical framework and as a variable definer as part of the digital platform to be produced during the project. COMHOM is a three-year change project funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) that focuses on utilizing data-based solutions, digital tools, and innovative practices to combat homelessness. (European Social Network 2025; see also Raatikainen 2025). In addition, the project collects information that is used to develop technological solutions to support homeless work.
Results
Three main themes emerged from the workshop when talking about trust and homelessness. These were trust in decision-makers, trust in client work and trust at the structural level including the rental market. The aim of the workshops was to collect professionals’ insight regarding the current situation of homelessness in Finland. The living lab gathered information on these four main themes (tables) related to the current state and future of homelessness: 1) Own work, cooperation, and trust; 2) Use of information and needs, tacit knowledge; 3) Finnish homelessness policy – services and visions for the future; and 4) Technological solutions. This article only deals with trust and homelessness, based on professionals’ experiences.
One of these themes addressed trust and homelessness. The participants were people working with homelessness in the public sector, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. Time was set aside so that each participant had the opportunity to share their thoughts at each of the four tables, one of which dealt with trust. It was a group discussion, and at each table there was a project worker taking notes. In addition, participants were able to write their thoughts (keywords) on a flip chart if they wished. The material was transcribed into text form and analyzed using content analysis.
According to professionals from the Living Labs session, trust in decision-makers was weakened. In other words, the government doesn’t listen to experts or understand what’s really happening, and service cuts make it harder to prevent problems or help people recover. They mentioned that
The government does not listen to experts: “if you do this, evictions will increase.”
Funding for services is being cut extensively – directly affecting prevention and recovery.
Competition between service providers to survive – some private providers have gone bankrupt.
Also, clients in vulnerable situations may face violence, mental health issues, and distrust in authorities, especially among those with a foreign background. Also, while NGOs often gain trust more easily and interpretation services work well, language barriers still prevent some from accessing help. According to professionals, the following issues are recognized:
Foreign language perspective: Trust in authorities is lower – based on experiences from home.
Interpretation of important, multilingual housing advice works well.
Experiences of not getting service due to language barrier.
The third theme dealt with structures and general challenges in the rental market.
For example, the ban on painting balcony walls – it limits the feeling of home.
For young people, it is important that the rental contract is made with a person, not just electronically.
The main findings of the study are summarized as follows: firstly, trust in decision-makers has weakened clearly. In other words, the government does not listen to experts or understand the real situation. Secondly, clients in vulnerable situations face multiple challenges, especially among people with a foreign background and language barriers. Thirdly, the structural and general challenges of the rental market and the broader problems of the housing market are obvious and do not give rise to any trust in the authorities.
Conclusion
Individuals with lived experience of homelessness face considerable marginalization, dehumanization and structural violence (Magwood et al. 2019).
In this Living Lab, three themes of trust confirmed the fragility in high-trust society. We need more information and understanding of trust within the network of professionals working with homelessness. Professionals described the atmosphere as good and trustworthy but were concerned about new policies and social welfare cuts, which are a key factor in rising numbers of people facing homelessness and the risk of being unhoused. Trust in politicians to make sound choices to reduce homelessness and achieve the zero-homelessness goal by 2027 is breaking. It creates a situation where people working with homelessness must work even closer together to maintain existing paths and policies that get everyone a bed by the end of the night, to help navigate bureaucracy and applications for permanent housing, how to build trust towards the system and housing services for people that have experienced it as something else than a basic human right: as located within a community where you belong and concretely – a house with an open door. People working with homelessness are a close network of public services, NGOs, and the private sector. They know best how to use those resources that are still left.
References
Beilmann, M., & Lilleoja, L. 2015. Social trust and value similarity: the relationship between social trust and human values in Europe. Studies of Transition States and Societies, 7(2), 19-30.
COMHOM 2025. Pioneering data-driven solutions to combat homelessness across Europe. (Accessed 15.8.2025).
Eckel, C.C. & Wilson, R. K. 2004. Is trust a risky decision? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 55(4) 447-465.
European Social Network 2025. COMHOM: pioneering data-driven solutions to combat homelessness across Europe. 3 February (Accessed 15.8.2025).
Magwood, Olivia & Leki, Vanessa & Kpade, Victoire & Saad, Ammar & Alkhateeb, Qasem & Gebremeskel, Akalewold & Rehman, Asia & Hannigan, Terry & Pinto, Nicole & Sun, Annie & Kendall, Claire & Kozloff, Nicole & Tweed, Emily & Ponka, David & Pottie, Kevin. 2019. Common trust and personal safety issues: A systematic review on the acceptability of health and social interventions for persons with lived experience of homelessness. PLOS ONE 14. e0226306.
OECD 2025. OECD Monitoring Framework to Measure Homelessness, Paris: OECD Publishing.
OECD 2024. OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions – 2024 Results: Building Trust in a Complex Policy Environment, Paris: OECD Publishing.
Raatikainen, E. 2025. COMHOM – Comprehensive approach to combating homelessness. Helsinki: Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. (Accessed 15.8.2025).
Raatikainen, E. 2015. Lujita luottamusta: asiakassuhteen rakentaminen sosiaali- ja terveysalalla. Jyväskylä: PS- Kustannus.
Authors
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Eija Raatikainen
Principal Lecturer (PhD, Associate Professor) and Project Manager, Metropolia UASEija Raatikainen is Principal Lecturer (PhD) and Project Manager in the School of Well-being, Metropolia UAS.
About the author -
Johanna Niemi
Specialist, Metropolia University of Applied SciencesJohanna is a specialist and teacher at Metropolia, as well as a continuous learner in matters of equality. She has worked in several RDI projects at Metropolia.
About the author