Search

16.4.2026 | The Government proposes amendments to the Act on Child Home Care Allowances and Private Childcare Allowances. The proposal would implement the Norwegian model for child home care allowance. The proposal seeks to promote the integration and labour market position of women with an immigrant background and to increase the participation of children in early childhood education and care.

17.2.2026 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is requesting comments on a proposal to amend the Act on Child Home Care Allowances and Private Childcare Allowances. The proposal seeks to promote the integration and employment of women with an immigrant background and to implement the so‑called Norwegian model for child home care allowance, in line with the Government Programme of Prime Minister Petter Orpo.

9.3.2026 | EU ministers will convene for a meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council in Brussels on 9 March. Minister of Social Affairs and Health Wille Rydman will represent Finland at the meeting.

Support and benefits The Finnish social protection system includes various forms of financial support and benefits designed to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to take part in working life and society in general. Children and parentho...

9.4.2026 | 1 ADI-ROM(2025)26 Restricted Strasbourg, 9 March 2026 COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON ROMA AND TRAVELLER1 ISSUES (ADI-ROM) 13th meeting Strasbourg, 1-2 April 2026 Explanatory Memorandum Recommendation to the member States on desegregation and inclusion po...

In accordance with the Government Programme of Prime Minister Orpo's Government, solving the shortage of personnel threatening the availability of services in the welfare society requires both short-term and long-term measures. The Good Work Programme will be launched to ensure the sufficiency and availability of personnel in the health, social services and rescue services sectors.

8.8.2025 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health proposes appropriations of EUR 14.8 billion for the Ministry and its branch of government for 2026. This is about EUR 475 million less than in the 2025 Budget. The funding of wellbeing services counties is not included in the appropriations for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and its branch of government. Instead, it falls under the main title of the Ministry of Finance.

19.12.2022 | Children and young people assessed child welfare as ‘adequate’ in a survey commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and carried out by the Central Union for Child Welfare. Children and young people said that child welfare should increase inclusion, reduce staff turnover and improve the regulation related to restrictive measures.

28.9.2020 | Children, young people and adults are invited to participate in preparing the National Child Strategy. The strategy is being drawn up by a parliamentary committee representing the various parliamentary groups, and will be completed by the end of 2020.

8.12.2022 | An additional child benefit will be paid to all child benefit recipients in December 2022. This additional benefit will not be taken into account when calculating recipients’ social assistance.

23.9.2024 | The two memorandums published on 23 September 2024 assess the combined impacts of the changes to income security that the Government is preparing or implementing for the years 2024–2025.

23.9.2024 | The Finnish Government proposes about EUR 15.2 billion in appropriations for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and its administrative branch for 2025. This is about EUR 1.1 billion less than in 2024.

8.5.2025 | The series of social security dialogues held by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Timeout Foundation brought out a wide variety of views and development suggestions from citizens on the future of social security. The outcomes of the dialogues will be presented at a webinar on 15 May 2025.

13.1.2022 | The number of parental leave days will increase and there will be more flexibility for parents to take leave. The reform aims to increase equality in working life and between parents and to take better account of different types of families. The new types of parental leave will mainly apply to families where the child’s estimated date of birth is 4 September 2022 or later.   

10.1.2023 | Different ways of organising social security have been examined as part of the preparation of the social security reform. The report on alternative ways of organising social security, which was made by a working group consisting of researchers and experts, was published on Tuesday 10 January 2023.

17.9.2021 | The Government has completed its proposal for the family leave reform, and the proposal will now proceed to Parliament for consideration as decided by the Government on 16 September. The reform is scheduled to enter into force on 1 August 2022.

16.2.2021 | The Government has completed and published its draft proposal for the family leave reform. The draft proposal will be circulated for comments between 19 February and 2 April 2021. 

4.9.2023 | The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health requests comments on a draft bill that aims to simplify the unemployment security system and increase employment. The proposed amendments would concern the prior work requirement for employees to be entitled to unemployment benefits, the adjusted unemployment benefit, the starting date of the right to receive unemployment benefits, and the child increments to unemployment benefits.

12.10.2023 | The Government has submitted to Parliament a proposal aimed at reforming unemployment security to provide more incentives for work. The proposed amendments concern the prior work requirement for an employee to be entitled to unemployment benefit, the adjusted unemployment benefit, the starting date of the right to receive unemployment benefit, and the child increments to unemployment benefits.

21.9.2021 | The Government has submitted to Parliament a proposal on the nationwide use of the EU Digital COVID Certificate, or the COVID-19 passport. It is proposed that the provisions on the EU Digital COVID Certificate be added to the Communicable Diseases Act.