Half of Finland's single-parent families received state housing subsidies last year, according to the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Kela.
The agency said that cuts to housing support and unemployment benefits will particularly affect families on low incomes this year. It noted that single-parent families often need to seek assistance to make ends meet.
More than 111,000 families with children — and nearly one out of every two families with a single guardian — received general housing assistance in 2023, according to Kela.
The research was carried out by Kela and the Itla Children's Foundation and the findings will be used by a parliamentary committee as it examines reforms of the country's social security system.
Around six percent of two-parent families received housing assistance, with about half of those also earning salary-based income.
"When there is only one adult supporting the family and finances, the financial situation is often tighter and support may be needed to supplement their small salaries," said Signe Jauhiainen, Kela research manager.
The agency reported that nearly 47,000 families in Finland received basic social assistance last year, the country's last-resort form of financial aid. One-tenth of those were single-parent families.
There were around 87,000 kids in families that received basic social assistance, according to Kela. However, it noted that the majority of them only received the support for a short period.
Measures and impacts
According to Itla's research professor Tiina Ristikari, previous surveys have found links to poorer school performance and livelihoods, as well as psychological and debt problems among kids from families that receive income support.
"The longer you received income support in childhood, the more visible these challenges are," Ristikari said in a government press release on the matter.
In their report, the researchers listed 17 measures for lawmakers to use in their decision-making. The measures include changes in home child care benefits as well as the child benefit.
However, the researchers did not offer recommendations for the decision-makers, but rather described their likely effects, according to the government release.
Both press releases from the government and Kela noted that the eventual decisions will affect people's livelihoods, work incentives as well as public finances. They said the same decisions can potentially improve the livelihoods of some families and worsen livelihoods for others.
"We hope that our description of the measures and their possible effects will help decision-making. In the end, it is up to the decision-makers and not the researchers to choose what kind of actions they want to take," research manager Jauhiainen said in the release.
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