24 Jun 2017

Life at the young and old folks' home

From This Way Up, 12:30 pm on 24 June 2017

Young Finnish people are moving into Helsinki's biggest state-run rest home as the country grapples with a housing crisis. 

The founder of Homes that Fit Miki Mielonen talks about the programme.

In return for a certain number of hours spent hanging out with more mature residents of Rudolf Seniors Home, the young people get a cheap place to stay.

What started out as a solution to the challenge posed by youth homelessness is now expanding to other parts of the country.

"The youngsters have brought an energy and positive spirit into the place with them. It is a very simple model that would be easy to spread to other countries" - Social worker Kristiina Stenman quoted in The Guardian.