Finland has built a strong social security system over the past 100 years through important reforms. Some key reforms include establishing universal pensions in 1937 to take the elderly out of poverty, providing maternity grants in 1938 which increased access to healthcare, offering support to all families with children beginning in 1948, and creating a national healthcare system in 1964 to improve equality and health. More recent reforms aim to provide consistent basic social assistance across the country and explore options like basic income to create a simpler and more supportive social security system for the future.

1. How social security
has built Finland

2. A double anniversary
• Kela is currently celebrating a double anniversary: Finland turns 100
and Kela 80 years. To honor this, our researchers took a vote on the
most important social security reforms in Finland.
• In a video series, we present these 10 reforms and reflect on how they
have contributed to Finnish society.
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3. 1. Ground-breaking idea: everyone has the right to receive help
• The 1922 Poor Relief Act required municipalities to help those in
trouble. It became the foundation for a new kind of social security.
• https://youtu.be/pIlfIAp90j8
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4. 2. The national pension took the elderly out of poverty
• In 1937, the National Pensions Act gave all Finns the right to a pension.
About twenty years later, pensions were considerably increased.
Without these reforms, the elderly in Finland would be more unequal,
poorer, and dependent on the good will of their relatives.
• https://youtu.be/erahU-jhuRE
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5. 3. Maternity grants brought mothers to maternity clinics
• In today’s Finland, it seems clear that expectant mothers seek prenatal
care. Even just 80 years ago, this was not the case. Then an effective
means was found: maternity grants, which required visits to the doctor
or midwife. Maternity grants came into use in 1938.
• https://youtu.be/vaHVyoEc-1I
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6. 4. Support for all families with children
• After the war, there was a boom of children being born in Finland. The
Parliament of Finland unanimously decided that families with children
needed support. Since 1948, all families with children have received
child benefits. It evens out the costs between families with children and
other households.
• https://youtu.be/W9bylYuxzUg
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7. 5. A healthier and more equal in Finland
• Before health insurance in 1964, illness meant poverty for a lot of
Finnish people. Not everyone could afford healthcare and medicine,
and a workplace-based insurance system was very unequal. Health
insurance has contributed to the equality and health of Finns.
• https://youtu.be/CHoqxIMVO1w
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8. 6. Health services conveniently from one place
• In 1972, the Primary Health Care Act significantly changed Finnish
health care. It required municipalities to take care of primary health
care and bring affordable medical services to everyone. All
municipalities had to set up a local health center.
• https://youtu.be/9S6EGwrUe9E
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9. 7. Everyone has the opportunity to study
• Since 1969, Finnish students have received a state-guaranteed student
loan. Since 1972, they have also received grants that do not have to be
repaid. The purpose of student financial aid is to secure opportunities
for students from different backgrounds to study, since education is
also an asset for society.
• https://youtu.be/2FlpUH_k5TE
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10. 8. Local day care facilitates women’s employment
• Since 1973, municipalities have provided an affordable place for
children to be cared for during the working days of their parents. At the
same time, the child receives high-quality early childhood education.
• https://youtu.be/CU6vIQN9KDw
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11. 9. Basic social assistance consistent across the country
• Social assistance can be received if one’s income is otherwise
insufficient for living. At the beginning of 2017, basic social assistance
was transferred from the municipalities to Kela to ensure that
customers are treated equally regardless of their place of residence
and to lower the barriers for seeking support.
• https://youtu.be/HxIc-akG_kw
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12. 10. Simpler and more supportive social security?
• Finland’s social security system is complex and it cannot always meet
today’s needs. Therefore, a basic income experiment is underway in
Finland from 2017–2018 that offers research data, which can be used
to reform social security.
• https://youtu.be/ajClpuHSSmY
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