The most pressing problem facing people who live alone is housing, says Pirjo Lehtonen, chair of the Association for People who Live Alone in Finland. Lehtonen noted that housing costs in Finland are fundamentally expensive and people who live alone suffer more than anyone else in this regard.
"To improve the situation of people living alone we need to find more economical housing solutions and they need a very different kind of housing support from what’s currently available," Lehtonen said.
Oulu resident Pekka Parpala has lived single for nearly 30 years. he said that just when he’d been able to pay off the debt on his home, the housing association decided to implement a costly plumbing overhaul. he was forced to borrow more money to pay for it.
"I don’t get any assistance. I would need to have a smaller income or pension to receive any help," he added.
NGO chair Lehtonen lamented the fact that funding for housing support has been cut for retirees, further weakening the position of elders living alone.
Older singles live modestly
Lehtonen said that following the election and government formation talks, she was bewildered to see that although the organisation had explained to decision makers the problems faced by adult singles, the focus is still entirely on families with children and their problems.
"All the same singles pay for everything themselves and rarely get any kind of assistance," she noted.
People living single also lose out on basic benefits such as domestic help tax credits, because they are only entitled to one deduction, while couples inhabiting the same space get twice as much.
"This must be addressed and made more equitable. Particularly in older age groups, singles have got used to living modestly. That’s no reason to forget them," Lehtonen remarked.
Most people in breadlines single
Statistics on poverty show that individuals living alone account for the second largest group, while single dwellers represent the largest group of low income households. In soup kitchens, the majority of people in the queue live alone, the NGO char noted.
Pekka Parpala said that when he goes shopping he constantly sees special offers targeting families. In some cases, products are on offer in oversize packages and in some cases consumers can pay the price of two items and get three. When it comes to edibles, Parpala says most ends up in his freezer.
"If you find a smaller package somewhere then it has a higher per kilogram price," Parpala noted.
Even on vacation singles pay more for accommodation than families.
According to the NGO at the end of 2014 there were 2,618,000 households in Finland, of which 1,098, 000 were one-person households. Some 26 percent of the adult population lived alone in 2014.
