The number of homeless families went up by a fifth since the year before, totalling over 400 by the end of 2011. Over half of them lived in the Helsinki region.
The figures for immigrants without a place to live have also gone up, according to ARA. In 2011, homeless immigrants living alone numbered over 1,000 for the first time. They now account for 13 percent of all the homeless, whereas before this figure was 9 percent.
Families of immigrants make up 40 percent of all families without a home.
Many women and young people are among the homeless. At the end of 2011, some 7,600 people who lived alone lacked a roof over their heads. One in five was either a woman or an under 25-year-old.