Table 1.
Characteristics of the study sample, homeless persons staying in shelters in Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland, year 2008 (N = 158)
| Characteristics | N (%) |
|---|---|
| Sex | |
| Male | 116 (73.4%) |
| Female | 42 (26.2%) |
| Marital status | |
| Single | 75 (47.5%) |
| Divorced | 61 (38.6%) |
| Married | 13 (8.2%) |
| Widowed | 4 (2.5%) |
| Unknown | 5 (3.1%) |
| Length of homelessness | |
| < 1 year | 60 (38.0%) |
| 1–5 years | 50 (31.6%) |
| > 5 years | 37 (23.4%) |
| Unknown | 11 (7.0%) |
| Reasons for evictions and homelessness | |
| Disturbing lifestyle | 49 (31.0%) |
| Unpaid rent | 30 (19.0% |
| Divorce or separation | 12 (7.6%) |
| Termination of temporary tenancy agreement | 12 (7.6%) |
| Voluntary termination of contract | 8 (5.1%) |
| Unknown | 47 (29.7%) |
| Income | |
| Pensions or sick leave | 71 (44.9%) |
| Social assistance or no income | 45 (28.5%) |
| Earnings related income allowance | 24 (15.2%) |
| Salaries/earned income | 4 (2.5%) |
| Unknown | 14 (8.9%) |
| Detox treatments in the past 3 years | |
| 0 | 97 (61.4%) |
| 1–3 | 33 (20.9%) |
| 4–37 | 28 (17.7%) |
| Charlson comorbidity index score | |
| 0 | 113 (71.5%) |
| 1 | 32 (20.3%) |
| 2–3 | 8 (5.1%) |
| 4–6 | 5 (3.2%) |