Social services in Finland

Social services in Finland rest on the principles of the Nordic welfare state, which require universal services and adequate social protection. All residents in Finland are by law guaranteed access to social services. The right for social services is guaranteed by the Constitution and it is in the responsibility of public authorities, state and the municipalities. The organisation of social services is arranged by each of Finland‘s 448 municipalities. The government sets the general objectives, enacts legislation and issues guidelines and recommendations regarding the provision of services. The social policy system is individual-oriented, based on individual and universal social benefits and rights, and safeguards gender equality regardless of family relationships. It emphasizes prevention.

Areas of activity

Social services include child day care, childcare allowances, child welfare, services for the disabled, elderly care services and care for substance abusers (mainly alcohol).

All children below school age are entitled to receive municipal day care either at a day care center or in family day care. Day care costs are calculated according to the size of the family and income. Day care services are free for low income families. In 2001, some 200.000 children, i.e. 42% of the children below school age, attended municipal day care centers.

The main policy aim is, that as many elderly people as possible should be able to live independently in their own homes. Living at home is supported by professional social and health care services. Residential services and different forms of institutional care are provided to people who can no langer manage to live at home. Each municipality is expected to have an up-to-date policy strategy concerning care far elderly people, that safeguards their social rights. The strategy should include a service development programme. The main types of services for the elderly are home help and home nursing care, meals, cleaning and other services, service accommodation, support for informal care, the provision of rehabilitation and assistive devices and institutional care.

The aim of social services for people with disabilities is to eradicate obstacles for the participation of disabled people, provide services and rebabilitation. The principle of the organisation of services is the primacy of universal services. For disabled people, however, special services for housing, assistive devices, transport and interpretation are available. The Finnish Services and Assistance for the Disabled Act has helped disabled persons to live and participate equally in society. The number of clients using services provided under the Act increased throughout the 1990s. The main reasons for this were the ageing of the population, a policy favouring outpatient care and independent coping by the disabled and the elderly, and an increased awareness of the need for better services for the disabled. The challenge here is to ensure equal availability and quality of services and support measures, regardless of the applicant‘s place of residence, type of disability or age. The scope of preventive social assistance was expanded with a legislative amendment that came into effect in April 2001. The purpose of preventive social assistance is to enhance the social protection and independent coping of a person or family and to prevent social exclusion and long-term dependency on income support. Such assistance can be granted for instance to pay rent in arrears, for participation in activating measures, and to alleviate difficulties caused by overindebtedness or a sudden deterioration in the person‘s or family‘s financial situation.

Funding social services

Social services intended for all are mainly tax-funded and guaranteed equitably to everyone, regardless of domicile. Local authorities, which have a high degree of autonomy, are responsable for providing these services. They are financed out of local tax revenues, service charges and central government grants. Municipalities receive grants from the central government in order to enable them to arrange services they are obilged to provide. The criteria for state grants depend moslty on the number of children under the age of 7, people over 65 and the unemployment rate of the city. Since the 1990s the role of municipalities aud of clients in funding social services has increased. The role of the state has decreased, causing problems for the municipalities that are not economically well off. Clients pay fees for the services they use. About 10% of the total costs are financed by the clients. Client fees are means-tested and they have a ceiling.

The role of  NGOs and the market sector

Non-state organizations in the social welfare and health care sectors have their role to play in producing social services, as do private companies in these sectors. The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland also plays a role in social welfare and health care policy. NGOs have had a key role in developing the services for special needs. In terms of overall cost, private companies provide about 5 per cent of social services and 16.5% of health care services. The figures for third sector service providers are 17% and 3.4%, respectively. Local authorities are the main purchasers (about 80%) of privately provided social services. Other private welfare services supplement public services and bring special expertise to the service area.

The Slot Machine Association is an important source of funding for NGOs. Every year, over 1.100 organizations receive financing from the Association, covering over 1.000 development and experimental projects and some 400 investment projects. In addition to helping population groups requiring extensive support and help, NGOs also pay particular attention to the living conditions and safety of children and to the promotion of parenthood and helping families to cope in their work against social exclusion. Regional and local inequality trends are being monitored. Grants are allocated particularly to socio-economically weak areas, where problems have escalated.

Present problems and future challenges

Finland‘s population will continue to grow for a couple of decades. The growth- and funding-related pressure on public expenditure caused by an increased demand for welfare services varies greatly by region due to the different age structures of their populations.

The socio-economic states of municipalities cause different choices for a strategy. Municipalities in trouble have three kinds of strategies to choose from: conscious combination of various resources, letting things go as they will, and a strategy based on the market. It is important to note that weak economy does not mean the existence of only one alternative. Municipalities at the crossroads have had the dearest tendency to develop functional welfare-mix strategies with many actors. Progressing ones seem to favour a market-based system with strong public responsibility. Most producers of public services have many on-going development projects. The greatest benefit of such projects has been achieved in improving services qualitatively and in relation to their ability to respond to the users‘ needs. More and more often, public service producers evaluate their own work systematically. Such systematic evaluation is done least at social offices and health-care centres. About one third of social offices and 57% of health-care centres have systematic arrangements for facilitating user participation in their area.

The National Development Programme for the Social Welfare Field is an important new programme from the Finnish government. The aim of the programme is to safeguard the availability of core services, issues of labour and working conditions in the field, and the development of service structure and functions. According to the objectives of the National Development Programme for the Social Welfare Field, the availability and quality of social welfare services must be improved, and social work reinforced. The number of personnel in services for the elderly will be increased with a view to achieving the level required by the quality recommendations on care for elderly people. Quality recommendations will also be drawn up for other special groups, and their implementation will be monitored.

The use of social and welfare centres of expertise is a further recent development in Finland. The main aim of the centres is to set up an active and permanent cooperative structure in all provinces of Finland, involving all municipalities, between the research and training activities and the practical work of local authorities.

Särkelä, Riitta, Social Services in Finland, in: Newsletter Observatory for the Development of Social Services in Europe 2/2004, p.5f.