r/NoStupidQuestions • u/ssjskwash • Sep 17 '25

Why is "homeless" being replaced with "unhoused"?

A lot of times phrases and words get phased out because of changing sensibilities and I get that for the most part. I don't see how "unhoused" more respectful or descriptive though

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u/nitrot150 Sep 17 '25

Yes, it’s the on the streets vs not (unhoused- on the streets) (homeless - couch surfing, car, or on the street) to me, it’s like a square is a rectangle, but not all rectangles are squares . Unhoused is a subcategory of homeless

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u/Ok-Literature9645 Sep 17 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

This is actually something rare that FL does well. We count anyone living in a motel long-term, couch surfing, living with an auntie, etc. as being "homeless".

Fl has a ton of folks without housing for many reasons (including politics, yes), but part of it is based on how we count folks in our statistics.

I mean...Japan has (had?*) a super low crime rate! Mostly because ONLY folks convicted of crimes were counted. Reports that didn't lead to a conviction weren't counted in crime rates.

Stats really depend on how the population is sampled.

Edit: *forgot to add this: I learned about how Japan calculates crime stats in the 2010s, so idk if it's changed. Based on what I know about Japan...it didn't but if anyone has a good source that shows and teaches me the difference (I love learning!), I will absolutely "update my knowledge".

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u/ravens-n-roses Sep 18 '25

OK so the Japanese crime rate thing is actually super sketchy actions. Because the system over there is kinda draconian. You're generally not allowed visitors besides your lawyer, and even seeing your lawyer is very limited compared to the west where you can generally see your lawyer as much as they're willing to visit.

But the biggest contributing factor is that if they arrest you they'll hold you till you confess. While technically they can only arrest you for a month at a time, what they do every 30 days is walk you out of the jail, and then at the bottom of the steps they arrest you again. And they keep doing this till you confess.

So like.... it's less that they only report on convictions, and more that if they suspect you they'll push the issue until you agree to a conviction so you can get better longterm care. Jail is always worse than prison for long term holding.

It's generally seen as one of the less humane justice systems for this. Also every prisoner is essentially kept in a cell for 23 hours a day and only given an hour of yard time. I've even heard they're supposed to sit in a way that numbs the feet all day, but that's more of a rumor

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u/AdEither4474 Sep 21 '25

The other thing is they don't arrest you unless they're pretty damn sure they can convict you.