Government spending cuts have been criticised for targeting the same people in multiple different ways, with single parents, students and single people particularly hard-hit — but pensioners mostly protected.
On Thursday Helsingin Sanomat features a crowdsourced article on one family forced to move to a smaller flat thanks to a 200 euro cut in their housing benefit.
Natalia Kibroeva works full-time but still needs to move to make the budget manageable and avoid cutting back on hobbies or recreation for her son.
"It's shameful for the government that a person working full-time can't make ends meet, even though politicians say that a wage-earner should be able to get by in Finland," said Kibroeva, who adds that she grew up in poverty and wants to break that cycle for her own offspring's sake.
The family is moving from a two-bedroom apartment to a one-bedroom apartment, which means the mother will no longer have her own bedroom but rather sleep in the living room.
That's a suboptimal solution, but she says she feels lucky because they have managed to stay in the same area, the eastern Helsinki neighbourhood of Laajasalo.
With a 14-year-old son, moving to a new location at this stage would have been disruptive, but there are likely to be families in that situation.
Those with many children and those unable to find a cheaper apartment will be forced into difficult decisions, according to Kibroeva.
Healthcare cuts too quick?
Iltalehti reports on concerns within the ministry for Social Affairs and Health about the rapid pace of cuts in healthcare spending.
The government is aiming to save money in the sector, but ministry official Kari Hakala tells IL that the service changes might be happening too quickly.
The new wellbeing services counties are reducing the number of health centres before there has been proper research on the efficacy of digital services that are intended to replace them, according to Hakari.
He says that the regions are currently looking to implement cuts in the next 1-2 years, but a more sensible time horizon would be 3-5 years.
Cuts to NGO funding could also be damaging, as many of them undertake preventative work that helps lighten the load for healthcare providers.
Lapland recruitment
Finland's rural areas are emptying out, with many young people moving to the cities in pursuit of education and professional opportunities.
That leaves many towns unable to find the workers for basic functions like nursing, maintenance and even supermarkets.
Ilta-Sanomat reports on one solution for the S Group-affiliated Arina co-op in northern Finland — importing supermarket workers from Thailand and the Philippines.
The grocery chain's head of personnel Minna Salonen said that locals in some Lapland towns just don't fancy the shift work involved in the grocery trade.
The newcomers don't mind, and especially those from the Philippines speak good English, so she's hoping this will be a good solution.
The initial cohort of 14 workers will, however, undertake Finnish lessons before they arrive in Finland.
The travel and restaurant trades in the region are already familiar with recruitment in South East Asia, so Salonen has some confidence this could work for her shops.
In the case of Muonio, a town on the Tornio river in western Lapland, the new arrivals are helping ensure a new S-Market can open on time this summer.
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