Family leaves are distributed unevenly
In Finland, women take the majority of family leaves. Mothers accounted for 90.5% and fathers 9.5% of all maternity, paternity and parental allowance days in 2016. Women made up 93% of child home care allowance recipients.
Each family-leave reform that has increased the time on leave which is set aside for fathers has also boosted take-up of the leave among fathers. Still, one in five fathers do not take any family leave at all. Fathers’ share of the parental allowance allotment which can be used by either parent is as low as 1.7%.
More on family leave use among fathers:
- Miia Saarikallio-Torp and Anita Haataja: Isien vanhempainvapaiden käyttö on yleistynyt. [Increase in take-up of parental leave seen among fathers] Laulu 573566 perheestä[A song of 573,566 families], pp. 80-115.
Home care a popular option among parents of small children
A majority of Finns believe that children should be at least 1.5 to 2 years old when they enter day care. Families’ financial and employment circumstances, child care ideals and perceptions of the quality of day care all play a role in what parents consider to be the best age for children to go into day care.
The popularity of home care is reflected in the finding that the share of Finnish children attending early childhood education is significantly smaller than it is in the other Nordic countries.
The child home care allowance is problematic for female labour force participation
Despite repeated efforts over several decades to promote the equal use of the family leave among men and women, women still carry most of the career and salary risk that comes with family leaves.
Family leaves have direct costs for employers, for most of which they are compensated, but certain costs such as hiring replacement workers are not covered.
Mothers make up the majority of child home care allowance recipients. Long periods of time spent on family leave can erode women’s employment outlook, careers and salaries and ultimately their pensions. Women’s earnings-related pensions are on average equal to 66% of men’s.
The longest spells on child home care allowance are seen among parents with migrant backgrounds and those whose status in the labour market is precarious.
More on the impact of family leaves on retirement security:
- Karoliina Koskenvuo: Perhevapaiden vaikutus eläkkeeseen 1980-luvulta 2000-luvulle. [The impact of family leaves on pensions from the 1980s to the 2000s.] Laulu 573566 perheestä[A song of 573,566 families], pp. 116-135.
Take-up of the flexible care allowance remains low
When it comes to providing care for children under age 3, part-time employment and the flexible care allowance have proved to be a more popular option among parents than the partial care allowance they replaced. A little more than 17,000 parents were paid the allowance in 2016.
Following the introduction of the flexible care allowance, fathers’ share among the recipients increased slightly to around 10%.
- Anita Haataja: Tuloksia lapsiperheiden hoitoratkaisuista helsinkiläisperheissä [Some findings on child care arrangements among Helsinki-based families with small children]
A wide range of social benefits for families with children
Kela provides the following benefits for families with children:
- maternity, special maternity, paternity and parental allowance
- child care allowances
- child benefit
- maternity grant
- child maintenance allowance.
Total expenditure on family benefits paid out by Kela in 2016 came to EUR 2,935.7 million. At EUR 1,381.7 million, child benefits were the largest single category.
Press releases
- Nuorempi sisarus vähentää vanhemman sisaruksen osallistumista varhaiskasvatukseen (Presence of a younger sibling reduces the likelihood that the older sibling will attend early childhood education)
- 2000-luvun alku oli lapsiperheille suotuisaa aikaa (The early 2000s were good for families with children)
Statistics
- Child benefit
- Child care allowances
- Maternity, paternity and parental allowances
- Maternity grant
- Child maintenance allowance
Special publications
- Laulu 573 566 perheestä. Lapsiperheet ja perhepolitiikka 2000-luvulla (2016) [A song of 573,566 families. Families with children and family policy in the 2000s]
- Sosiaaliturva ja elämänvaiheet. Suomen sosiaaliturvan kehitys esimerkkien ja tilastojen valossa (2012) [Social security and stages of life. The development of social security in Finland in light of examples and statistics]
- Perhepiirissä (2010) [On family]
Research reports
- Lastenhoitoratkaisut helsinkiläisissä lapsiperheissä (2017) | Tutkimus pähkinänkuoressa [Child care arrangements in Helsinki-based families with children. An overview]
- Perhevapaiden tasa-arvoistaminen edesauttaisi erityisesti maahanmuuttajaäitien työllistymistä (2016) [A more equal gender distribution of family leaves would promote employment particularly among mothers with migrant backgrounds]
- Promoting parental leave for immigrant fathers – what role does policy play? (2016)
- Fathers’ rights to family cash benefits in Nordic countries in fatherhood in the Nordic welfare states (2015)
- Children who do not attend day care. What are the implications for educational outcomes? (2015)
- Maahanmuuttajien kotihoidon tuen käyttö 2000-luvulla (2015) (Take-up of home care allowance among immigrant mothers in the 2000s)
- Child perspectives on income and time use in Finnish families in the 1990s (2009)
- Lasten kotihoidon tuen kuntalisät osana suomalaista päivähoitojärjestelmää (2008) (The role of the Municipal Home Care Allowance in the Finnish child day care system)
Working papers
- Perhevapaat 2013 -väestökyselyn toteutus. Tiedonkeruu, aineiston edustavuus ja perustietoja vastaajista (2016) (Implementation of the Family Leaves 2013 population survey. Data collection, representativeness of the data and background information on the respondents)
- Kuinka pitkään lasten kotihoitoa? Selvitys äitien lastenhoitojaksoista kotona 2000-luvulla (2014) (A review on the length of child home care periods in the 2000s)
- Applying child-based information to a microsimulation model. A better tool to assess outcomes of alternative entitlements to child care provisions? (2014)
- Ensisynnyttäjät 2000-luvulla. Äitien työmarkkina-aseman muutokset sekä taustatietoa vanhempainvapaiden kohdentumisesta yrityksiin ja yritysjohdon mielipiteistä perhevapaisiin (2014) (First-time mothers in the 2000s. Changes in the labour market status of mothers and background information on the distribution of parental leaves among different companies and on management views on family leaves)
- Katsaus osittaisen hoitorahan käyttöön 2000-luvulla (2013) (A survey of the take-up of the partial care allowance in the 2000s)
- Lasten yksityisen hoidon tuki osana päivähoitoa (2013)(The private day care allowance as part of the child day care system)
- Bodyt, potkarit ja perhevapaat. Äitiyspakkauskyselyn tuloksia (2011) (Results from the maternity package survey)
- Vanhempainrahaa saaneet äidit. Taustatietoa vuonna 2006 äitiys- ja vanhempainrahaa saaneiden äitien demografisista ja toimeentuloon liittyvistä tekijöistä Kela-Stakes-tutkimusaineistossa (2010) (Female recipients of parental allowance payments. Background information on demographic and economic factors behind mothers’ receipt of maternity and parental allowance payments in 2006 in the light of Kela-Stakes data)
Blog posts
- Kannattaako lapsilisiä verottaa? (Does it make sense to tax child benefits?)
- Köyhyysmittarit ja etuudet ottavat perheenjäsenet huomioon vaihtelevasti (The recognition of family members differs across different measures of poverty and social benefits)
- Millaisissa elämäntilanteissa äidiksi tullaan – ja mitä sitten tapahtuu? (The life situations of first-time mothers – and what comes next)
- Perhevapaamallit äitien puntarissa (Mothers’ views of different family leave models)
- The role of the Finnish maternity package in the promotion of public health
- Äitiyspakkaus osana kansanterveystyötä (The role of the Finnish maternity package in the promotion of public health)
- Lapsuuden köyhyys seuraa pitkälle – toimeentulotukea kehitettävä (Childhood poverty casts a long shadow – improvements in social assistance are necessary)
- Takaisin työuralle vai kotiäitiuralle? (Relaunching your career or making stay-at-home motherhood a career?)
- Uusien äitien paluu työuralle – syitä pitkiin perhevapaajaksoihin. (Return to work among mothers with infants: about the reasons behind long periods of parental leaves
- Sukupuolten tasa-arvo on kiinni asenteista (Gender equity is a question of attitudes)
- Oikeutta varhaiskasvatuspalveluihin ei kannata rajata lailla (Right to early childhood education should not be restricted by law)
- Taitaa tulla paha kakku (A discussion of the impending curtailment of the right to day care)
Lectures and presentations
Current research
- Study on families with children
- Family leaves 2013: A population survey
- Child care arrangements in families with children in Helsinki in the 2010s (HELA)
- Family leaves and participation in the care of children among Finnish and Swedish fathers
- Questionnaire concerning the maternity package and family leaves
Contact information
- Anneli Miettinen, Researcher, tel. +358 50 559 9984
- Miia Saarikallio-Torp, Researcher, tel. +358 50 324 3311
- Karoliina Koskenvuo, Head of Research Team, tel. +358 20 63 41355
- Maria Valaste, Senior Researcher, tel. +358 20 63 41880
- Hanna-Mari Heinonen, Researcher, tel. +358 50 348 0372
- Tapio Räsänen, Researcher, tel. +358 50 302 9292
- Siru Keskinen, Coordinator (Statistics), tel. +358 20 634 1372
Email: firstname.lastname@kela.fi