Posts about basic welfare, social benefits, and social services.
Social security must not raise the barrier to starting a business. The government’s YEL pension reform scraps the discount for new entrepreneurs just as AI lowers the threshold for starting one, so it hits exactly the part-time experimenter and the sole trader in their first years. Finland needs to dismantle barriers to entrepreneurship, not add to them.
I have also changed my view on home care allowance. I once defended a municipal supplement to it, but research, including a 2026 review by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, changed my view: the allowance undermines gender equality and children’s development by encouraging mothers in particular to stay at home. Extended parental leave shared more equally between parents, and a universal basic income, would work better. On Kirkkonummi’s welfare committee I also saw, case by case, what people genuinely need but do not always receive.
Related posts
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YEL must not raise the entrepreneurship barrier
Finland's YEL reform would scrap the new-entrepreneur discount just as AI lowers the barrier to starting a business. Three fixes that keep the barrier low.
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The welfare committee — what is it?
The welfare committee handles residents' appeals on welfare matters. Although its meetings are confidential, the cases offer important lessons.
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The Kirkkonummi supplement is your benefit too
The Kirkkonummi supplement benefits not just recipient families — it strengthens the whole municipality's vitality and appeal to young families.
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Home care allowance supplement — a small cost, a big difference
Kirkkonummi council abolished the home care allowance supplement. A small cost, but a significant benefit for families and the municipality's vitality.
