Re:US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland
by DanBC on Friday September 20, 2019 @04:57AM
(#21024571)
> How do they come out with such numbers?
Different countries define and count "homeless" in different ways.
Some places will only count rough sleepers, and they'll do that by once a year sending people out to count people who are sleeping on the streets. This obviously severely undercounts those who are homeless.
Other places will have a definition for "statutorily homeless" which will include people living in bread-and-breakfast style accommodation - emergency short term lodgings funded by the state.
In both cases, as a tourist, I never go too far away from the popular places and never been there for most than 3 or 4 days.
Don't know the reasons (honestly) but the homelessness and poverty I've seen in the US is nowhere to be seen in Europe. I repeat, in "popular" places and vicinity.
How do they come out with such numbers? Is the impression of a tourist wrong? Where are the poor and destitute in Europe compared to the US?