What it’s like to be homeless in Copenhagen

Outside a busy 7-Eleven in the heart of Copenhagen’s shopping district, Stefan Danut and his wife sit quietly on the cobblestone street.

The couple unwrap a small box of tomatoes to eat, bought with coins they have earned by collecting pant bottles found on the street or nearby trashcans. They say they have no home here, both cannot speak much English or Danish and either sleep on the street or in nearby shelters.

“We came from Romania to Denmark to collect bottles,” Danut explains, communicating through a translation app. “That way we can send money home to our four children back in Romania.”

Homelessness in Denmark

The Danish Center of Social Science Research recorded that there were 5,989 homeless people living in Denmark in 2024. Just under half were living in the Copenhagen area. 

But Kjartan Emhjellen, a board member on non-profits that support people experiencing homelessness like Hus Forbei and the Danish National Organization for Homeless People, says it should not be this way. 

“In Denmark we have money,” Emhjellen says. “But the thing is, I don’t see how we can have 6,000 homeless people because it’s such a small amount of the population.”

Emhjellen previously experienced homelessness for 11 years before being moved into the government housing he has now. He became homeless after going bankrupt in 2008. 

“I had a company [where] I was delivering food to the elderly, and I thought because I did business school a little bit that I could do my own accounting, and then I couldn’t. So I owed half a million Kroner after 2 years.”

The European Union’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs found that the main drivers of homelessness in the EU were housing costs and availability, cost of living, domestic violence and how effective a country’s welfare system is. 

What it is like to experience homelessness

After Emhjellen became homeless he slept on friend’s couches, in shelters and even outdoors. He refers to that as “rough” sleeping and says many people do it. 

“A lot of people have experienced it because it’s hard to get into a shelter, and you also probably before you became homeless lost a lot of your friend groups.”

Sleeping rough or in shelters can be a stressful experience for many people experiencing homelessness, Emhjellen says. 

“I’ve been diagnosed with this flight or flight thing,” Emhjellen says. “I always have to take care of my surroundings, and depression.”

“The longer you are in this environment, the more difficult it is to pick yourself up again.”

Many homeless people in Copenhagen rely on various non-profits and welfare resources available to them. One such non-profit, Hus Forbi, works to give homeless people jobs as newspaper sellers.

But according to Emhjellen, to sell a newspaper, you have to have some tricks. 

“One day my friend found this keyboard, so we sat in front of a Netto and said, ‘buy a paper and we’ll play you a melody. We played a really shitty melody and people would buy the paper!” 

Another trick he learned was to find fun wherever he could.

“I think with homelessness you have to have quite a good sense of humour, because that’s the only thing keeping you up,” Emhjellen continued. “Because you can get lonely at night if you’re sleeping by yourself.”

What’s being done to help

Across the city, the municipality funds shelters, outreach teams and temporary housing to try to keep people off the streets. The approach follows Denmark’s national “Housing First” model, which aims to place people in permanent apartments before tackling problems like addiction, unemployment or mental health struggles.

However, many of the non-profits we spoke to told us they felt stretched thin. Emhjellen also feels let down by the system. 

“We’ve been taught in school and all my childhood that we have a security system and take care of our weakest,” Emhjellen says. “[But] they didn’t help me the way they should have helped me. And that’s why I came through all of the security slips and ended up just not giving a fuck and being an alcoholic.”

But things are now looking up for Emhjellen. 

“I got my apartment and a nice pension, so now I can just relax.”