In Finland, family care and support for family caregivers of older people has received increasing political and public attention in recent years. While generous social services are available for all, caregivers still have few legal rights and protections in the workplace. Common coping strategies for working caregivers include using home care services, reducing work hours, or early retirement. Efforts have recently been made to improve caregiver support, such as increasing funding for caregiver services and providing temporary caregiver leave through new legislation. However, more remains to be done to recognize family caregiving as a work-life issue and ensure caregivers do not bear an undue burden.

1. Carers and Work-Care Reconciliation International
Conference
University House, University of Leeds
Tuesday 13th August 2013
Family carers in the Finnish welfare
state: challenges and coping strategies
Outi Jolanki, PhD
Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy
University of Jyväskylä
outi.jolanki@jyu.fi

2. The Finnish welfare state
Rather generous publicly financed services,
directed to all and used by all social groups,
no means-testing
– Helps both people needing care and their family
members/carers
The responsibility to provide care rests with
highly independent local state (municipalities)

3. The general idea of family care in
the Finnish society
No legal responsibility for family to care for adults
Most people support the idea that family
members should help their older relatives, but
expect state to participate and provide care
services for older people
– According to surveys no clear preference for the formal
care or family care
During last few years family care and need to
support family carers of older people has been
brought to the political agenda and has been a
common topic in public discussions (in media)

4. Services: different trends for older
people and people with disabilities
General social and health care services available for all – helps
both people with care needs and the carers
Services for disabled people
– De-familising/normalising aim – to increase the independence of users
and family members
• Publicly funded services: housing services (cleaning, group-homes),
transportation, interpreters, technical assistance,
reimbursement for hom renovation
• Personal Assistance scheme (employer/employee-relation, not a
family member)
Services for older people
– Aim to support family carers (re-familisation)
– Declining resources and coverage of home care services – targeted for
those with extensive care needs – others need to rely on self-help,
family or private service providers
• increase in private service providers f.ex. providing cleaning
services, home maintenance, personal care etc.
Challenge: large regional variation in coverage and quality of
services due to LAs discretion– concerns all service users

5. Payments for family care
Care Allowance (1982- ) to care for person who needs help due
to illness, old age or disability (2011, 39.000)
– LA discretion, budget funding, taxable income
– 364 – 728€/month
• highest amount for 24/7 care situation, not enough to compensate
salary, mainly used by older spouses (both retired)
– Since 2005 the right to have 3 days off/month – respite care organised
by the municipality (day centre/residential care facility)
– Constant lack of good quality respite care places and carers coming to
home
– 2011 Support for Informal Carers Act (revised) LAs may contract with
’respite care’ worker to replace family carer
Special Care Allowance (during treatment of a sick child, based
on the parent’s income)
Disability Allowance (to parents of under 16-year-old disabled
child to support care at home, 92/215/417€/month)
Job Alternation Leave Benefit (not targeted for the carers, but
used by some carers to have time off from work)
– 70-80% of unemployment benefit, 90-365 days
– Only for those with long work histories (often used by women working in
public social and health care sector)

6. Employment related policies
Hardly any rights for carers
When caring for an adult: flexible or reduced hours and time off
in the case of emergencies need to be negotiated with the
employer, no absolute legal rights
Very different from employment policies for parents of small
children, whose rights protected more strongly by law
– Paid parental leave, paid temporary leave for caring for a sick child, right
to return to work (same) after parental leave
Temporary care leave to care for someone who needs help due
to illness, disability or old age
– Employers Contracts Act 2001, Amendment 2011
– Amendment strengthened the carers rights i.e. the empolyer needs to
provide an explanation if the leave is denied, employee has the right to
return to same work duties
– Unpaid, suggested for short-time absence only (duration not defined)
– Employers discretion
Political discussion in 2007 of the law amendment was
directly linked to the need to support family carers of older
people

7. Summary
In Finland:
During recent years family care and the need to support family
carers of older people have received increasing attention in
public discussions (in media) and in political decision-making &
national and regional strategies – family ’rediscovered’
– New goverment budget proposal (August 2013): 10 million euros to
develop family carers’ support services
Working carers are still quite invisible and have few rights; carers
allowance used mostly by retired people
– Coping strategies: use of public home care services, part-time work
(rather rare in Finland) or early retirement
Recently modest attention to family care as a work-life issue
(mentioned briefly in national strategy papers etc.)
Family care is not seen as an gender issue
Carers and those who need care expect good quality public
services and not to be ’left alone’ by the state; yet family care
seems to be seen as an alternative for formal care services in
Finland

8. Similarities and differences between Sweden
and Finland
Similarities:
Carers expect to receive help from public care
services
Rather generous social and health care services
Disability benefits and services more generous
than services available for older people
In daily life carers face similar challenges and
problems than carers everywhere - ambiguous
situations: will to care but combining care and
work experienced as stressful, potentially reduce
work-life participation, can have negative effect
on carer’s health and social life, carers call for
flexible workplace arrangements and tailored
individual services

9. Differences…
Differences:
Sweden has more generous, tailored and individualised public
care services and benefits than Finland
– In particurlarly publicly funded disability services and benefits
The role of the family seen more voluntary in Sweden (by
citizens and by authorities) whereas in Finland family carers
more strongly at the ’politicial agenda’ and more strongly tied
with the formal care system (in practice and in political speech)
In Finland new work law amendment (care leave) to support
caring workers
Finnish people favour ’shared care’ i.e. sharing responsibility
between family and formal care services slightly more than
Swedish people who emphasise more strongly the need to have
good quality formal services as a primary source of support?