Families In Finland Research Articles

Interprofessional collaboration in family support in low-threshold open meeting places for families in Finland: professionals’ narratives

Interprofessional collaboration in family support in low-threshold open meeting places for families in Finland: professionals’ narratives

Cell scientist to watch – Thomas McWilliams

ABSTRACT Thomas McWilliams is Associate Professor of Mitochondrial Medicine at the University of Helsinki, Finland. After completing his undergraduate degree in biochemistry in Ireland, Tom moved to the UK for his PhD in integrative neuroscience at Cardiff University, Wales. This was followed by a stint in Scotland for his postdoc at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation & Ubiquitylation Unit, where he helped develop the famous mito-QC mitophagy reporter mouse. In 2018, Tom then established his lab at the University of Helsinki, Finland, where his research focuses on mechanisms of mitophagy and basal turnover of mitochondria in vivo. We caught up with Tom over Zoom to hear more about his diverse research training, the importance of studying mitophagy in vivo and what it's like to work and raise a family in Finland.

Subsidizing private childcare in a universal regime

All families in Finland have the freedom to choose between subsidized home care, universal public childcare, and private childcare. We study the impact of the introduction of private childcare subsidies in Finland. Private childcare subsidies have causal effects on take-up but no impact on home care or employment among women with small children. Instead, private services seem to crowd out public childcare. Private services have a socioeconomic gradient by mother’s education that steepens when the subsidy increases. Families’ preferences between home care, public childcare, and private childcare do not explain the result.

Hesitant versus confident family language policy: a case of two single-parent families in Finland

Abstract During the past decade, the field of family language policy has broadened its scope and turned its attention to diverse family configurations in versatile sociolinguistic contexts. The current study contributes to this endeavor by focusing on two single-parent families who live in Finland and who strive to support Russian as a family language. Applying nexus analysis as an epistemological stance and as an analytical lens, the study takes an emic perspective on family language policy. Furthermore, it examines how family language policy is manifested and negotiated during mother–child play and what discourses shape it. The findings reveal two contrasting ways in which family language policy is manifested and negotiated in the families. Confident family language policy in one of the families is informed by the mother’s historical body (i.e., prior experience of raising children bilingually), while in the other family, discourse in place represented by divergent language ideologies plays a significant role in shaping family language policy and is connected with hesitant decisions about language use in the family.

Uniting diversity to create a more inclusive academic environment.

Uniting diversity to create a more inclusive academic environment.

Early home-leaving (HL) and educational attainment: The moderating role of HL in the intergenerational transmission of education

Leaving the parental home is a key step in successful transitions to adulthood. Early home-leaving (HL) is associated with lower educational attainment, but the role of early versus later home-leaving in the intergenerational transmission of education has not been assessed in previous research. We used a longitudinal register-based total sample of families in Finland to examine whether the association between parental and offspring education differs between early (below age 19) and later home-leavers, including a comparison between early and later leaving siblings. We found the lower probability of completing any secondary degree among early leavers to be larger among those with lower-educated than higher-educated parents. In contrast, in continuing to tertiary-level education, the educational disadvantage among early leavers was much larger among offspring of the higher-educated parents. Differences by HL across levels of parental education persisted adjustment for other parental and childhood resources, although only modest evidence of moderation was found when comparing early and later leaving siblings. Our findings on weaker intergenerational transmission of education among early leavers with an advantaged background, and accumulation of disadvantage among early leavers with less advantaged background suggest that timing of HL has an independent role in educational inequalities.

The role of partnering and assortative mating for income inequality: The case of Finland, 1991–2014

Previous studies covering various developed countries suggest that changes in assortative mating by education have contributed only a little to the changes in income inequality, opposite to the expectations of many. In this paper we consider two potential reasons for the zero effects: (a) that it is the selection into partnership rather than assortative mating according to specific characteristics that matters; and (b) that for assortative mating to matter, a broader spectrum of matching characteristics than just education should be considered, such as matching by employment and social origin. We study these assumptions using register data on household income inequalities, education, employment and parental class background in Finland 1991–2014. We analyze men and women separately and focus on individuals aged 35–40. We concentrate on between-group income inequality as measured by the Theil index. The results suggest that partnership is an important factor behind income inequality, and changes in selection into partnership can explain a substantial part of the changes in income inequality. Assortative mating does not matter as much, even if more sorting characteristics are taken into account. Social origin contributes very little to the income inequality of families in Finland

Virtual proximity and transnational familyhood: a case study of the digital communication practices of Poles living in Finland

ABSTRACT The article presents a study of five Polish multicultural and multilingual families in Finland, and their engagement in digitally mediated family communication. Explored through an ethnographic inquiry into the in-app communication practices of Polish migrant mothers and children, the study contributes to the body of research at the intersection of new media and communication, transnational family and migration studies, and family multilingualism. Building on the concept of virtual proximity, which refers to the emotional closeness between individuals afforded by digital technologies and mobile communication, the study identifies four thematic patterns in participants’ practices in digital habitats: (i) children’s agency in creating family WhatsApp groups, (ii) the use of family in-app communication for language learning purposes, (iii) digital caregiving strategies and arrangements, and (iv) the use of digital photo-sharing as a form of visual co-presence. Children’s and mothers’ practices in digitally mediated communication differ from each other, but they lead to the formation of transnational familyhood in digital habitats. In this context, achieving virtual proximity by digital means helps to fulfil aspirations to remain a family across distance.

Who Are You? (Parent’s Naming Strategies for Their Bilingual Children)

The article discusses the sociocultural aspects of the parents choosing a personal name for their child in foreign cultural environment. In order to find out the motivation for choosing a name by parents in 2017–2019, a pilot sociolinguistic experiment was conducted in monoor multilingual families inFinland. The research methods were chosen: the method of sociolinguistic questionnaire, focused interviews, the method of verification, the case study method. The total number of children’s names which were analyzed is 57. Main types of motivation in naming in mono-and polylingual families are historical/cultural, linguistic (phonological/phonetic, associative/semantic) and religious/mystical reasons.

Being a First-Generation Migrant Family Student in Finland: Perceptions and experiences of the Educational Journey to Higher Education

This research aimed to investigate the situation of first-generation migrant family students (FGMFSs) in higher education in Finland and determined how FGMFSs experience and perceive their educational journey to achieve higher education. The study focused on the factors that support students to be successful in their education. Fifteen first generation students in higher education who belong to migrant families in Finland were surveyed utilizing semi-structured in-depth interviews. In this qualitative study, grounded theory (GT) was used to identify emerging latent patterns from data. Three main categories family values, institutional values, and interpersonal relationships were identified to support students to be successful in their education and enter higher education. The results of this study can help educational institutions, educators, and policy makers understand what factors are important in improving educational success for migrant students.

Calendar Festivals as a Form of Transnationalism and Cultural Strategy in the Mixed Finnish-Lithuanian and Greek-Lithuanian Families

The object of the paper is to research the celebration of calendar festivals within Finnish-Lithuanian and Greek-Lithuanian families in Finland and Greece respectively. The subject was approached mainly from the Lithuanian women’s perspective, since most of the mixed marriages involved Lithuanian females and rarely Lithuanian men in the countries chosen. Six main Lithuanian calendar festivals of different origins were in focus of the study. Three festivals belong to the Christian calendar: Christmas Eve (Kūcios), Christmas (Sv. Kalėdos) and Easter Day (Sv. Velykos); and the other three are national festivals significant for the State of Lithuania historically: 16th February (Day of Reinstating of the State of Lithuania), 11th March (Day of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania) and 6th July (Statehood Day). The aim of the research is to reveal how the calendar festivals referred to above are celebrated in the particular context of emigration: within mixed marriages. Available transnational connections suggest different forms of celebrating, which are shaped following certain strategies.

The Association of Early Childhood Education and Care with Cognitive Learning Outcomes at 15 Years of Age in Finland

Background: We investigated whether child’s participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is associated with later cognitive learning outcomes at 15 years of age in Finland. Methods: The Finnish PISA 2015 data (N = 4634) was used. Learning outcomes in science, reading, mathematics, and collaborative problem-solving were evaluated with computer-based tests in 2015. Participation in ECEC and parental SES were assessed with questionnaires. Results: In any learning outcome, students who had only participated in preschool at 6 years of age did not differ from students who had started in ECEC at any other age between 1 - 5 years. Additionally, at a trend level, participation in ECEC before preschool had more beneficial effects on learning outcomes among students with high parental SES than low parental SES. Conclusions: ECEC before preschool is not associated with learning outcomes at 15 years of age in Finland. ECEC may not have compensatory effects for children coming from socioeconomically disadvantaged families in Finland. In the future, it is necessary to further investigate which factors might diminish the inequality in learning outcomes between children coming from different family background. In particular, more research is needed about the influence of both societal factors (e.g. integration of immigration families, psychosocial family environment, gender-specific factors) and child-care related factors (e.g. special education; individually tailored day care programs for high-risk children).

The Experience of Impecuniousness in a Noble Family at the End of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract Being a member of the elite imposed high demands on the livelihood of noble civil servant families in Finland at the end of the nineteenth century. Although the salaries of high-ranking officials were relatively substantial, they could not always ensure the standard of living which was demanded by the elite of the Grand Duchy of Finland. This article concerns the family of the governor, Baron Gustaf Aminoff, and their livelihood. The living of the Aminoff family was totally derived from Governor Aminoff's salaries and fees; they had no other sources of income, such as a manor or land. The Aminoff family constantly suffered a lack of money and its everyday consumption was rational and frugal. The family occasionally found its financial situation depressing. Many noble families lived constantly on credit, and so did the Aminoff family. When debt relationships were based on trust, a good reputation was crucial. At the end of the nineteenth century, Finnish society was still very hierarchical. Noble families struggled between the traditions of the noble way of life and the social pressure caused by the new wealthy industrial and commercial elite. The officials' system of rank also caused strain: the more senior the official, the more opulent of a lifestyle was required.

The Europeanization of Nordic Gender Equality: A Foucauldian Analysis of Reconciling Work and Family in Finland

In this article, we analyse the case of reconciling work and family as a particularly illuminative example of the effects of soft Europeanization. We focus on one particular policy instrument of the EU, namely projects co‐funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), which have sought to develop family‐friendly arrangements in Finnish workplaces. Our analysis suggests that this soft law instrument can result in significant changes in member states, even in cases where the member state's own policy is well entrenched. Theoretically, our contribution is to connect soft Europeanization to the Foucauldian theory on power, and the literature on Analytics of Government specifically. From this perspective we argue that the ESF development projects function as Foucauldian ‘technologies of involvement’. We find that by stabilizing and normalizing project techniques and managerial rationalities untypical for previous gender equality and work–family policies in the country, the ESF projects in our case partly challenge some established principles of Nordic welfare policies, such as universalism and state responsibility for welfare measures. Moreover, as ESF projects have managed to involve mainly female‐dominated organizations and women as participants, we pose the question whether this kind of soft‐law instrument that trusts the self‐regulation capacities of actors can bring about change in gendered conventions.

Assessing violence in the family – social work, courts, and discourses

This article investigates social work, decision-making, and gendered violence in the family in Finland. Discourses on gendered violence in the family are compared in custody disputes, handled in district courts, and out-of-home placements, dealt with in administrative courts. Both data sets altogether include 237 cases. Proceedings in both courts share a legislative emphasis on the ‘child’s best interest’ principle, and both contexts also rely on documentation provided by social workers. The examination of the two studies is based on discourse analysis, through which we have identified hegemonic discourses that are active in both courts. The study found that violence was often disregarded or described only vaguely in the court documents. The results suggest that the victim’s perspective is often overlooked in court decisions, and that the abuser is rarely blamed for the abuse. The discourses enable violence to be overlooked or underplayed when deciding on children’s living arrangements, since these discourses centre on either the parents’ conflicts (in both courts) or the failure of the mother to protect the child (in out-of-home placements). Furthermore, it is also important to acknowledge the experiences of the victimized parents, who in these studies were most often the mothers.

Childcare and parental work schedules: a comparison of childcare arrangements among Finnish, British and Dutch dual-earner families

This study examined the association between parental work schedules and non-parental childcare arrangements among dual-earner families in Finland, the Netherlands and the UK. Data from the ‘Families 24/7’ web survey were used, including 937 parents with children aged 0–12 years. Results showed a negative association between non-standard work and formal childcare across all countries. A similar association was found for using a combination of formal and informal childcare, whereas solely using informal childcare was not associated with work characteristics. Country differences showed that, compared with Finland, the probability of using formal childcare was lower in the Netherlands, whereas the probability of using informal childcare was higher in the UK. Interaction effects showed that the negative association between non-standard work and formal childcare was stronger in the Netherlands, compared with Finland. Also, the positive association between working hours and formal childcare was weaker for Dutch and British parents. This study identified the challenges that parents face when arranging childcare outside of office hours. Although the supply of formal childcare seems to be insufficient, using informal childcare introduces other potential problems. Because a considerable proportion of employees work non-standard hours, governments should help these parents in meeting their need for high quality childcare.

Parental migration and Asperger's syndrome.

Parental immigration has been suggested as a possible risk factor for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but findings have been inconsistent. Very few studies have focused specifically on Asperger's syndrome. The aim of this study was to examine the association between maternal and paternal immigration and the diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome in offspring. The study was a nested case-control study based on a national birth cohort in Finland. Children born in 1987-2005 and diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome by the year 2007 were identified from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (N = 1,783). Four matched controls for each case were selected from the Finnish Medical Birth Register (N = 7,106). Information on maternal and paternal country of birth and mother tongue was collected from the Finnish Central Population Register. The study showed that children whose parents are both immigrants have a significantly lower likelihood of being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome than those with two Finnish parents [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.2, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.1-0.4]. No significant associations were found between having only one immigrant parent and the diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome. A regional analysis showed a significantly decreased likelihood of the diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome in children whose mother (aOR 0.1, 95 % CI 0.01-0.5) or father (aOR 0.2, 95 % CI 0.05-0.5) was born in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings may help in identifying risk factors for different ASD subtypes. On the other hand, they might reflect service use of immigrant families in Finland.

Functionality of cooperation between health, welfare and education sectors serving children and families.

Children and their families use a lot of different services, which poses challenges in terms of cooperation between service providers. The purpose of the study was to evaluate and compare the functioning of this cooperation between services for children and families in Finland's mainland municipalities from the viewpoints of employees and managers. The study was carried out using a cross-sectional survey design. Data were gathered using two postal surveys from employees and managers working in health care, social welfare and educational settings. The data consisted of responses from 457 employees and 327 managers. Employees working in primary health care and education services assessed cooperation as working better than did those working in social welfare, special health care or mental health and substance abuse services. Well-functioning cooperation at the operational and strategic level was related to good awareness of services and to agreed and well-functioning cooperation practices with few barriers to cooperation. Employees were more critical than managers concerning the occurrence of barriers and about the agreed cooperation practices. Successful cooperation in providing services for children and families requires an awareness of services, management structures that support cooperation, agreed practices and efforts to overcome barriers to cooperation.

National Clinical Nursing Guideline for Identifying and Intervening in Child Maltreatment within the Family in Finland

The purpose of this article is to present the clinical nursing guideline we developed to help nurses to identify and intervene in child maltreatment, defined as physical and psychological abuse and neglect. The guideline is based on a review of 77 research articles and review and discussion papers searched systematically from databases. According to this review, child maltreatment is associated with risk factors which may manifest themselves in the child, the parents or in the whole family. Knowledge and assessment of these risk factors are of the utmost importance. Particular attention needs to be paid to the accumulation of risks in the family. Physical and other signs caused by maltreatment are central to the identification of maltreatment. Important opportunities for identification and intervention are home visits to families with children, and during clinic visits, with questions and discussion about child‐rearing practices, the parents' or carers' relationship and violence which might be present in family life.‘Particular attention needs to be paid to the accumulation of risks in the family’The guideline summarises the most compelling multidisciplinary research evidence in order to make recommendations which guide nurses and other professionals on providing care to families with children and in developing identification and intervention practices. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Key Practitioner MessagesThe guideline is based on a systematic review which presents research evidence for developing identification and intervention practices concerning child maltreatment.Important issues are the occurrence of risk factors, signs of maltreatment in a child and methods of identification and intervention.Next steps are implementing the knowledge into multiprofessional practice and evaluating its usefulness by further research.

The Successful Combination of Work and Family in Finland: The Ability to Compromise as a Key Factor

This article focuses on the success at work from the family’s point of view. This article is based on two researches in Finland: one that concentrated on marital success (N= 342 married couples) and the other one in which the employees of the year (N=8) described their solutions to combine work and family successfully. By uniting these two perspectives, the purpose is to give a unique description of how both the family and work roles can be combined in order to enhance succeeding both at work and in family life. This article answers to the following questions: 1) In what way is it possible to combine work and family successfully? 1.1) according to the long and happily married couples? 1.2) according to the employees of the year? Based on these researches, the ability to compromise satisfactorily was the linking factor between these life dimensions. The participants that had succeeded at work and in family life had found a balance between work and family satisfying to both of the spouses. This article is of topical concern as the current tendency of the demands on effectiveness and development at work due to changes in work life have been increasing and at the same time, the family values are becoming more and more appreciated.