This week's All Points North delves into the government’s newly-released 'activation model' that seeks to nudge jobseekers forward in their hunt for employment -- and threatens them with benefit cuts. As the model’s first evaluation period is up, this week’s episode will explore what changes the new model has brought to jobseekers across Finland, as well as hear arguments in support of the highly controversial system.
Guests this week include Pamela Spokes, a Canadian budding entrepreneur who has personally felt the pressure of Kela’s heavy hand. Joining her was Matti Apunen, the former editor of Aamulehti, current head of business and policy think tanks EVA as well as the head of Veikkausliiga.
In this episode we also touch on a report that claims police in Finland engage in ethnic profiling, figures that state the number of escorted deportations are expected to double this year, an admission by Facebook that some 20,000 Finland-based clients' information was handed over to data mining firm Cambridge Analytica, a report that claims children who exercise regularly at a young are are more likely to earn more money in the future, Helsinki city council's rejection of the government’s ‘sote’ plans to reform social and health care services in Finland, a potential change to the parachute pensions of retired MPs, and the stern stance from Veikkausliiga (and its chairman, Matti Apunen) on football match postponements.
If you have any questions or would like to share something on your mind just contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook page or Twitter account, or at yle.news@yle.fi.
This week's podcast was presented by Egan Richardson and Denise Wall with guests Pamela Spokes and Matti Apunen. Co-producers were Lydia Taylerson and Mark Odom and our sound technician was Tuomas Vauhkonen.
The All Points North podcast is a weekly look at what's going on in Finland. Subscribe via iTunes (and leave a review!), listen on Spotify and Yle Areena or find it on your favourite podcatching app or via our RSS feed.