Finnish model for leisure activities increases schoolchildren's participation rate and reaches vulnerable groups

The Finnish model for leisure activities offers children and young people free extra-curricular activities as part of their school day. The clubs already reach around one in four students attending comprehensive schools in Finland. The model not only increases children's and young people's engagement in leisure activities, but also improves opportunities for those who have found it difficult to pursue activities, especially if they come from low-income or one-parent families. The first results of the pilot project were collected from eleven municipalities of different sizes in autumn 2024.

During the 2024–2025 school year, We Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Culture are examining how the extra-curricular provision based on the Finnish model reaches children and young people from different family backgrounds. The pilot will continue until the end of the school year, collecting data directly from the parents and guardians of the children attending the clubs. The coverage of free-of-charge activities has not been studied in Finland on this scale previously.

Promising first results

The first results of the pilot, collected in the 2024 autumn term, provide evidence that the model has made a difference especially in these areas:

• 16% of the respondents had not taken part in other extra-curricular activities in the previous six months.
• For low-income families, the key reason for participation was the fact that the activity was free of charge (29%), while non-low-income families found it important that the activity took place as part of school day (28%).
• 25% of new participants from one-parent families had not engaged in extra-curricular activities before.

During the previous six months, 39 per cent of the respondents living in one-parent families had previously taken up a free extra-curricular activity organised as part of the school day. Only 37 per cent of those living in one-parent families had participated in an activity out of school hours. Of the children living with two parents, 55 per cent took part in activities out of school hours.

Socio-economic background affects take up of extra-curricular activities

There are clear differences in access to leisure activities by family background. In families with accumulated socio-economic disadvantage, only 30 per cent of children take part in extra-curricular activities out of school hours, while 42 per cent take part in activities as part of the school day and 28 per cent do not pursue any extra-curricular activities. In comparison, in families with no accumulated disadvantage, 59 per cent of children take part in activities out of school hours and only 10 per cent do not pursue any extra-curricular activities.

The extra-curricular provision based on the Finnish model brings together children and young people from different family backgrounds. Socio-economic risk factors, such as long-term unemployment, low income or parents' low level of education (at most comprehensive school education), affect children's access to extra-curricular activities. However, the clubs based on the Finnish model succeeded in bringing together children and young people from a variety of backgrounds:

• 59% of the respondents came from families without socio-economic risk factors.
• 29% had one socio-economic risk factor.
• 12% had more than one socio-economic risk factor.

“It is clear that the Finnish model for leisure activities, which has been developed over several government terms, really works,” says Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity Sandra Bergqvist.

"The central idea of the model is to offer meaningful extra-curricular activities which children and young people themselves have asked for. At their best, the clubs can provide the participants with an opportunity to learn about a wealth of activities and a path to finding a long-term interest," says Minister Bergqvist.

“We must systematically monitor and study the achievement of the objectives we have set for the Finnish model. We aim to ensure that as many children and young people as possible can have an extra-curricular activity they love. We must further improve access to activities in sparsely populated areas and boost cooperation with local sports clubs, cultural organisations and private sector providers,” she says.

In the pilot's next phase, data will be collected directly from the participants and their parents and guardians on how the extra-curricular provision based on the Finnish model affects schoolchildren's overall wellbeing and inclusion. 

“For We Foundation, the Finnish model for leisure activities is an ambitious initiative that can combat the growing inequality among children and young people. Children's and young people's lives can take different paths early on. Equal access to extra-curricular activities is an important means of preventing children and young people from being marginalised."

“To ensure that the resources spent on the Finnish model will generate the desired outcomes and the model will become a major Finnish social innovation, we should continuously measure the model's impact. Based on these first results, we can already show that the model has great potential and it reaches many children and young people from different backgrounds,” says CEO Tiina-Maija Toivola from We Foundation.

The municipalities that took part in the pilot's first phase were Akaa, Hämeenlinna, Joensuu, Liminka, Lohja, Nurmijärvi, Oulu, Porvoo, Rovaniemi, Sastamala and Somero. The municipalities joining in the next phase of data collection are Jyväskylä, Järvenpää, Kauhajoki, Kronoby, Lahti, Naantali, Pori, Seinäjoki and Vantaa.

The Ministry of Education and Culture awards around EUR 14 million annually in discretionary government grants to municipalities for organising extra-curricular provision. The 258 municipalities receiving grants have 511,000 students attending comprehensive schools. The municipalities estimate that 143,000 students have taken up an organised activity provided by the Finnish model. When all participating children and young people are added up, the Finnish model for leisure activities becomes Finland's largest club.

Inquiries:
Tiina Kivisaari, Director, Division for Sport, Ministry of Education and Culture, tel. +358 295 330 178, [email protected]

Henni Axelin, Director, Division for Youth Work and Youth Policy, Ministry of Education and Culture, tel. +358 295 330 205, [email protected]

Iina Berden, Ministerial Adviser, Division for Art and Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Education and Culture, tel. +358 295 330 069, [email protected]

Tiina-Maija Toivola, CEO, We Foundation, tel. +358 50 571 0457, [email protected]