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(last
updated October 2001)
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Introduction and Overview
Despite its own unique political and economic history and ethnic roots,
Finland shares what is now described as the Scandinavian pattern: it is a
generous welfare state with a strong family policy commitment. Government
spends a (relatively) high percentage of GDP, it has high social protection
(social welfare) expenditures and the related relatively high taxation
levels. Finland has enjoyed remarkable economic growth since World War II
and, directly influenced by its neighbors, has developed a welfare state
which features universalistic strategies. Finland shows the Scandinavian
commitment to the concept of the "people's home", a society in
which everyone is precious and should be given opportunity. The concept of
the welfare state has essentially been accepted by all political parties,
despite some 1990s cut-backs during the economic recession..
Policy also is very much influenced by one of the preconditions of the
country's economic growth, sometimes the highest (or one of the highest)
female labor force participation rates (69.9 percent in 1998) among the
pluralistic democracies, much of it (87 percent) full-time. In this
context, child and family policy has had strong political support. The need
for child care arrangements has resulted in a rich array of guarantees and
options, making Finland's under-3 policy particularly worthy of note.
Income supports, child care options, preventive health services and a
generally high standard of living have placed Finland among the top
countries in the world in its low infant mortality record. It is almost
free of child poverty. And, until the severe economic recession of the
early 1990s, it had committed itself to further improvements in its
policies and programs. Having largely recovered in the late 90s, it has
solidified core child and family policy. The family policy objective is as
follows: "to create a safe environment for children and to guarantee
parents the material and psychological resources to bear and raise
children", ensuring financial support and child care arrangements
"to level out the expenses that children bring".(1)
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Highlights
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in pdf format.
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Government Agencies
In recent years reorganizations have placed planning and policy
development in a single ministry (Social Affairs and Health) combining
health and social welfare concerns and joining both income transfers and
services. A related National Research and Development
Center for Welfare and Health, subsidiary to the Ministry, does
developmental and applied research, compiles national statistics and has
some residual administrative responsibilities. The Ministry of Environment
is responsible for housing allowances. There is no specialized agency for
family and child policy, nor is there an integrated plan. Nonetheless the
concept of family policy (to include children) has been widely used in
government and in public discussion. Policy initiatives and coordination
reside in the Social Affairs and Health Ministry. Implementation of
services is assigned to lower tiers, largely the municipalities, which have
become particularly important recently, especially with regard to child
care policies. The intermediate provincial level has also been becoming
more important, especially in the health field.
Municipalities are responsible for providing social and health care
services; the basic, required services are defined by national legislation.
The central government provides each municipality with a block grant based
on a number of population, health, and economic variables. This is
supplemented by municipal taxes and some user fees for social and health
care services.
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Demographic and Other Social Trends
Salient for family policy are the facts that Finland is a country of 5.2
million people(1999). Of its 1.4 million families (1998), some 1.4 million
were families with children, an average of 1.8 per family. Children under
age 15 constitute19 percent of the 5.2 million people. Ninety percent of
children live in families with two parents. About 14 percent of families
with children were single parent families(1999). Almost 1 percent of
children under age 18 are in foster homes or residential institutions.
There has been a steady decline in the number of births, continuing in
the 1990s, with both a fall in the number of women of child-bearing age and
a fall in the fertility rate. Yet at 1.73 (2000) Finland's fertility rate
is comparatively high for Europe. The age of mother at first delivery is
high and the mean age at birth overall is very high. Since the 1970s,
Finland-like many European countries-has experienced a significant increase
in cohabitation, reaching 20 percent of "families" by 1995. Many
cohabitees marry when a child is born. Of all mothers there was a
proportionate increase in unmarried mothers from 5 to over 9.2 percent over
the 90s (a low rate, comparatively). About 30 percent of all children are
born to cohabitating parents. Some 15 percent of children live with single
parents. The teen-age abortion rate and the teen-age birth rate are low.
Some 70 percent of mothers of young children are in the paid labor force,
mostly full-time. Finland has the highest female labor force participation
rates in the European Union. It was the first European country to give
women the vote.
Along with Japan, Sweden and Norway, Finland leads the world in low
infant mortality and has low rates for low birth-weight births. It has the
best EU records of dental health in 12 year-olds. There is concern about
increased smoking, by 8th and 9th grade, and relatively high rates of use
of alcohol and illegal drugs by the same age group, however. Finland's
young male suicide rate leads Europe.
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Social Protection
In various studies during the 1990s, Finland as consistently been seen
as the most, or one of the most, egalitarian OECD countries in income. Its
social protection (social welfare) system has a strong commitment to the
principle of equality. It has one of the lowest OECD poverty rates. Ranked
14th among 19 OECD countries in per capita GDP, it has the sixth lowest
child poverty rate in the group (6.9%), employing the U.S. poverty measure.
(The U.S. rate by comparison is 13.9%.) Measured under the European
relative system (less than half the median income), Finland has the third
lowest rate (4.3%). The lone parent family rate is 7.1%, and the rate for
other families is 3.9%(2).
As in the other Scandinavian countries, Finland's social assistance
rates for both female and male single parent families are far higher than
for the population at large.
According to news releases from the Ministry of Social Affairs and
Health late in 1999 and early in 2000
"The aim of Finnish
family policy is to create a safe environment for children to grow up in
and to provide parents with the material and psychological means to have
and raise children. Society uses various forms of financial support and
child care arrangements to even out the costs of children for
families"(3).
Finland began with family allowances in 1948, turned to the larger tasks
of the health insurance and pension systems, and then upgraded the lagging
child allowances in the mid-70s when family policy attracted more
attention. The development of the child caring systems started in the 70s
and continued: the full definition of entitlements and options occurred in
1996 and 1997. Finnish child care and child allowance systems are
universal.
Finland is alert to and conscientious about international conventions
and directives relevant to children and family policy. It sent a full
report to the UN in 1995 on implementation of the Convention of the Rights
of Children and although a member of the European Union (EU) only since
1995, is the only country to have implemented all EU social directives.
Finland's family policy was influenced in the 1930's by the concern with
the fertility decline and began with some tax concessions for families with
children and maternity grants for low income mothers. Allowances were
inaugurated in 1943 for large families, again in the pro-natalist mode
(abolished in 1974), as were loans for young couples. However, when the
present child allowance system was inaugurated in 1948 it was a response to
employer's desire to restrain general wage increases (repeating the French
history). The Agrarian party urged that all families with children be
covered. There was, as indicated, a general decline in the value of these
benefits from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, but the interest revived
then, allowances were increased several times, and a supplement for under
3s was added. While some still attribute policies to fertility concerns,
other experts have cited a broader concern with equalization of burdens and
the enhancement of child development.
Despite active and visible demographic research and reporting and
population policy discussions, pronatalism has apparently not been an
important explicit driving force in child and family policy most recently.
The social welfare minister of Finland, Tarja Halonen, now the President,
told the Conference of Family Ministers in 1987: "We have no
population policy programme….The increasing number of the elderly and the
probably reduction of the birth rate have brought about concern, however….When
the age group of children diminishes there will be better future
possibilities for family policy to shift from quantitative to qualitative
needs…". Nonetheless a system which pays higher allowances to later
children is at least implicitly pro-natalist.
Finland is one country which still offers a birth grant, worth 760 marks
but most often paid in kind with a very popular "package" of
which policy makers are quite proud. It contains all that an infant needs
during the first year. Only mothers who report for prenatal care are
eligible.
As has been the case in much of Europe, Finland has recently adjusted
and cut local and national assistance programs to ensure that ensure that
everyone in need receives a minimum level of income, while increasing work
incentives.
In the Scandanvian pattern, Finland has a large public sector
(government revenue and expenditures as a percentage of GDP, levels of
personal income tax, social protection expenditure as a percentage of GDP).
For example, in 1996 the EU average country spent 28.7 percent of GDP for
social protection; Finland spent 32.1 percent. Moreover, only a very few
European countries spent as high a proportion of their total social
benefits on behalf of family/children's benefits as did Finland (12.5 percent)
in 1996. In 1998 Finland spent 30.5 percent of GDP when the EU average was
27.7.
Departing from universalism principles, however, Finland coped with
financial pressures of the recession of the 1990s by increasing from 11 to
16 percent the portion of its total social expenditures that is
means-tested. Only Ireland, U.K. and Spain have higher rates; the EU 1996
average was 10.5 percent.
Finland spends 9.8 percent of its social expenditures on family
benefits, compared to an EU average of 8.3 (1998). In the unique
Scandinavian pattern, Finland tends to spend as much or more for child care
as for child allowances. The table which follows, referring to diverse
family benefits, places the programs reviewed in comparative perspective
for 1997:
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Child Allowances
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33.1%
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Day Care
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32.8%
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Child Home Care
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8.1%
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Private Child Care
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0.2%
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Parental Leaves
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10.8%
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Advance Maintenance
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1.9%
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Housing Allowances
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5.0%
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Home Help
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0.8%
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Institutional Care, Children, and Young People
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3.1%
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Other
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4.2%
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100.0%
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(Ministry of Social Affairs
and Health, 1999)
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Child, Youth and Family Policies
Maternity, Paternity, Parental, and Family Leaves
Finland has an 18 week maternity benefit, of which 5 weeks may be taken
before confinement and the remainder thereafter. Income replacement is at
70 percent of earnings except for quite-high earners. There also is a 28
week parental leave, all with income replacement of about 70 percent. Wage
"replacement" for mothers or fathers on leave, but without labor
force attachment, is a set percentage of an average wage. The parental
leave is for either parent. There also is a child rearing leave at a flat
rate extending until the child is three. A reduced payment is available to
a parent who works up to 30 hours. Fathers also may take 6-12 days to help
with the new child or older children in the family. In rural areas, under
collective bargaining arrangements, local government finances farm labor
replacement for the mother while she is on leave. Like all Finish social
insurance, these leaves are financed by government (45%), employer (35%),
and employee (13%) contributions.
The "child-rearing" or "home care" allowance which
begins after the leaves and extends until a child is 3 emerged from a
debate between those favoring the child care provisions described above and
those who favored financially-aided home care of young children. The
"compromise" was to do both. The provision that continues this
option is most attractive to relatively low earners or to those two-earner
couples whose total income is such that they can tolerate a decrease. The
basic home care allowance provides about 15 percent of an average wage. There
is a supplement if the family has more than one child or is low-income,
raising it to about 30 percent. Many families use part of the home-care
option to extend the parental leave. Time at home caring for a child under
age 3 and receiving a home care allowance is considered labor force time so
that (since 1991) pension credits also accumulate.
Thus the child care and leave provisions of Finland's family policy
offer the richest array available, in a class with -but less generous
than-Sweden and matching but richer than Germany. It is Finland's explicit
response to a pattern in which 81 percent of couples with children are dual
earners and 86 percent of single parents are at work.
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Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)
The well-developed, high-quality system has developmental and
educational objectives.
With high and mostly full-time maternal employment, Finland has built up
its child care guarantees. By 1999 it offered a guarantee of a place if
requested for the 3-6s and by 1997 the guarantee was effective for the
0-3s. The home care allowance is the alternative. (Compulsory school starts
at 7.) By 1996 only 1500 children in the entire country needing placement
were without it. Of the under-3s, 48 percent were in care by the latest
reports, a high coverage rate; for the 3-6's it was 73 percent, typical in
the Nordic countries, but not high by continental standards. Parent fees
vary by income and family size and are waived for those of low income.
Parental fees meet only about 15 percent of costs. Most children are in the
public system. Parents preferring to remain at home get a modest grant
(which-see below-is topped up by some municipalities to help control demand
for child care space). Parents also have the option of a grant to help pay
for in-home care or for private care. Family day care (1/3 of children) may
be chosen for the youngest children and is regulated. Most care (all types)
is full day but some part-time care and some round-the-clock care is
available.
Finland was part of a 2000 OECD review of ECEC in twelve countries.
Consult the full Finnish report on line or download it at: http://www1.oecd.org/els/pdfs/EDSECECDOCA016.pdf
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Family and Child Allowances and Child and Family Tax Benefits
Discussed under the European rubric of "equalization of
burdens", child allowances (to age 17) are intended to ease the
pressure which comes with the added costs of raising children. Finland's
researchers have frequently focused on the costs of a child. Child
allowances are estimated as meeting half the costs of rearing a child. They
are tax-free, not means-tested, and increase by a child's ordinal position.
There is a 200 mark per month supplement for children of lone parents and
also a means-tested supplement for low-income families.
Among the Nordic countries (1998), Norway had the highest average child
allowance benefits, followed by Finland (and, then, Denmark and Sweden),
all in the 900-1400 Euro range, per month.
Until 1994, Finland also had tax allowances for those who rear children,
and their total costs were estimated at about equal to the costs of child
allowances. Unlike the situation in other European countries where
conservatives tend to favor the tax exemption route while the center-left,
left, and unions favor child allowances, Finland's conservatives advocate
for child allowances. This is consistent with the long-term preference of
agrarian parties, with a large low-income constituency, for universal
benefits. Thus, whereas there has been much public debate in recent years
about home care versus day care, child allowances are a given.
The home care allowance, described above among the "leaves" is
considered among the family allowance benefits. Government meets the entire
cost of these allowances, with municipalities responsible for financing
home care allowances.
Spouses are taxed separately and there are no special family concessions
in the tax system.
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Child Support
A lone parent who is divorced or separated, or who has a child out of
wedlock, is entitled to child support from the non-custodial parent. If
that support is not paid, or if paternity has not been established, there
is a public child maintenance payment (worth about 6 percent of an average
wage in 1992). This payment is neither income-tested nor taxable. It is an
addition to the child allowance. Of those under 18, 11 percent of Finnish
children received such payments in the late 90s, a bit below Norway (12
½%), Denmark (15%), and Sweden (15 ½%).
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Other Child Conditioned Income Transfers
The social security system provides for child survivors of workers or
spouses caring for children under 18 (or 20, if a student). These are
universal benefits which may be supplemented on the basis of an income test
for low-income orphans. There is also a disability allowance for
non-pensioners, as well as the child allowance for disabled children and
the long-term ill. There also are child supplements to unemployment
insurance and unemployment assistance. In 1998, 10 percent of single parent
households received social assistance.
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Child and Adolescent Health
Health care expenditures in Finland are below the OECD average but its
services are rated favorably in recent studies. The system combines a
social insurance system, financed by employer, employee, and government
contributions and a public sector (municipal) health services program
financed primarily by local and national taxes. There are insurance
deductibles and co-payments. The municipal health services are essentially
free.
Municipalities carry the major responsibility for providing health
services. Most Finns are served by the primary health care centers and
their hospitals. 94 per cent of pregnant women come for a check-up at the
maternity clinic before the end of their fourth month of pregnancy. The
check-up is a condition for receipt of the maternity grant. During the
course of a normal pregnancy an expectant mother will attend the clinic
12-15 times, normally to see the public health nurse. She will be examined
by a doctor 2-3 times during the pregnancy. Most health centres offer
mothers the opportunity of an ultrasound scan, normally 12-16 weeks into
the pregnancy. Home births are rare; 99 per cent of women give birth in a
hospital.
The role of the child health clinics is to monitor and support
children's physical, psychological and social development and where
necessary refer them for tests and treatment elsewhere. They also provide
support and guidance for the family in bringing up their children and
coping with family life.
After the birth the public health nurse from the maternity clinic visits
the home, and the child and family then transfer and become patientsof the
child health clinic. The recommendation is that children visit the clinic
for a check-up eight times before their first birthday, 1-2-year-olds four
times a year, and older children once a year. Children under one year old
are examined by a doctor 2-3 times, and the child is thereafter examined
once every second or third year until the start of school at 7 years of
age, when the school health care service takes over. The clinic also
administers the vaccinations provided under the immunization program.
The local authorities also are responsible for providing school and
student health care in the comprehensive schools, vocational institutions,
and upper secondary schools in their area. Health care in the universities
and other institutions of higher education is the responsibility of the
Student Health Foundation.
Comprehensive school pupils receive an average of seven health checks
during their school career. Each pupil is examined two or three times by a
doctor, the other examinations being carried out by the school nurse. The
school nurse also has regular consulting hours in the school during which
pupils are free to visit for a consultation. Health education and pupil
welfare also form an integral part of the school nurse's work. In many schools
they also give lessons in human relationships and sex education. Dental
care and psychology and speech therapy services are also included within
free school health care provision(4).
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School-Aged Children: Policies and Programs
Compulsory school ages, 7-16. Free pre-school for 6's with day care and
school components.
We have referred above to health care and cash allowances. Also
noteworthy is the policy of ensuring each child and youth in a public
program a free, hot noon meal each day. School books and supplies are free.
Finland's educational expenditures are above the OECD mean, at the
United States level. As much is the case with regard to the portion of the
post-25 population with at least secondary education. Finland also has a
strong record of gender equality in education. More women than men have
academic degrees (23.7 versus 21.2 percent).
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Youth
Finland leads the European Union in the age (18) at which half of all
young people have left the parental home, and -with Denmark- in the
percentage of young people, ages 16-29, who are cohabitating (over 40
percent).(6)
While committed in principle to substantial youth participation in all
facets of their own affairs and community life, Finnish policy personnel
acknowledge that participation goals are "not yet realized"(7).
Click here to view in pdf format a table on the ages
at which children are legally entitled to carry out a series of acts in
European Union countries. See Youth Policies
section for definition of terms used.
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Reconciliation of Work and Family Life
The multi-option child care benefits and the maternity-parental-child
care leaves and benefits are considered to be responsive to the high labor
force participation rates of mothers. In addition, an employed parent in a
two-earner family may claim 4 days of leave to remain at home to care for a
sick child. There is no statutory income replacement, but about
three-quarters of such parents are provided for by collective bargaining
arrangements. Although there is low take-up parents may shorten working
hours two hours daily or one full day each week to care for school-age
children to age 7 with a partial (25%) home care allowance.
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Housing Benefits
Allowances are provided to low income families who rent or own standard
housing and whose costs exceed a fixed percentage. They are based on
regional scales, family size, and income and are not taxable. There is a
special housing allowance for students. Of families eligible for family
allowances in the past decade over 40 percent have been lone-parent
families and they have constituted 40-50 percent of housing allowance
recipients.
Families with children are not homeless in Finland, i.e. they may be
homeless only for a couple of weeks. Then they usually stay with relatives
and friends or the municipal social welfare offices arrange temporary
housing for them for this time either in apartments owned by the
municipality or in hotels. Families with children have priority when the
occupants for social housing are chosen. If families with children are
evicted (because of rent arrears) there usually are other problems in the
family, too. In these cases the children might be taken into custody or
otherwise taken care of by the social welfare authorities. There are no
special shelters for homeless families in Finland(5).
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References
Matti Alestalo, "Finland: The Welfare State at the
Crossroads," in Niels Ploug and Jon Kvist, eds. Recent Trends in
Cash Benefits in Europe (Copenhagen: The Danish National Institute of
Social Research, 1994(, pp. 73-84.
Matti Alestalo and Hannu Uusitalo, "Finland," in Peter Flora,
ed., Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare State Since World
War II, Vol. II (Berlin: Walter De Gruyten, 1986).
Eurostat, The Social Situation in the European Union 2001,
(Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities,
2001).
Innocenti Report Card, Issue No. 1, June 2000. (Florence:
International Child Development Centre), Figure 1,2,3.
Alfred J. Kahn and Sheila B. Kamerman, Social Policy and the
Under-3s: Six Country Case Studies, "Finland" (New York:
Columbia University School of Social Work, 1994), pp. F1-F89.
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, "The Finnish Social
Protection System and its Operation in 1995" (Helsinki: 2000).
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Early Childhood Education and
Care Policy in Finland, (Helsinki, 2000). Background report for OECD
Thematic Review.
Minna Salmi and J. Lammi-Taskula, "Parental leave in Finland,"
in Parental Leave: Progress or Pitfall?, edited by Peter Moss and
Fred Deven (Netherlands: Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic
Institute, 1999).
Sirpa Taskinen, "Finland," in Family Observer
(Brussels: European Observatory on Family Matters, European Commission,
1999), pp. 28-29.
Sirpa Taskinen, "Finland," in John Ditch, Helen Barnes, and
Jonathan Bradshaw, editors, Developments in National Family Policies in
1996 (Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, 1998), p. 262.
Sirpa Taskinen, "Finland" in John Ditch, Helen Barnes, and
Jonathan Bradshaw, editors, Developments in National Family Policies in
1995 (Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, 1996), p.143,
153.
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Notes
1)OECD Thematic Review- Finland report, p. 4.
2) Innocenti Report Card, No. 1, figures 1,2,3.
3) http://www.vn.fi/stm/english/tao/publicat/familypol/fampol/htm
4) Sirpa Taskinen, "Finland," in John Ditch, Helen Barnes, and
Jonathan Bradshaw, editors, Developments in National Family Policies in
1996 (Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, 1998), p. 262.
5) http://www.vn.fi/stm/english/pao/publicet/health/health3.htm
6) Eurostat 2001, pp. 25-26.
7) Conference of Ministries, p. 123.
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Contacts
Washington Embassy
Embassy of Finland
3301 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: (202) 298-5800 Fax: (202) 298-6030
Ministry
Department for Social and Health Services, Ministry of Social Affairs
Sosiaali-ja terveysministerio
Meritullink. 8
PB 33, 0023 VALTIONEUVOSTO
Finland
(http://www.vh.fi/stm/eng/index.html)
European Union Family Observatory National Representative
Sirpa Taskinen
National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES)
Siltasaarenkatu 18
PB 220 FIN-00531 Helsinki
Phone: 358-9-39 67 2148
Fax: 358-9-39 67 2201
Email: sirpa.taskinen@stakes.fi
Website: http://www.stakes.fi/
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Introduction and Overview
Highlights
Government Agencies
Demographic and Other Social Trends
Social Protection
Maternity, Paternity,Parental, and Family Leaves
Early
Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)
Family and Child Allowances and Child and Family
Tax Benefits
Child Support
Other Child Conditioned Income Transfers
Child
and Adolescent Health
School-Aged Children: Policies and Programs
Youth
Reconciliation of Work and Family Life
Housing Benefits
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