Finland is among the first welfare states in the world where a significant proportion of the population is aged. Aging population is and remains a big policy issue in Finland. [Please keep reading: article continues after data.]
Most recently the Demographic Report (2021), commissioned by the Prime Minister’s Office, outlined policy advice for sustainable demographic development. Experts’ recommendations included increasing the family-friendliness of society, investments to education and lifelong learning (particularly for men), higher employment rates for people aged 65-74, more net immigration and more tailored immigration policies. These recommendations are largely in line with reforms that are already underway in Finland.
Recent reforms carried out by the previous government:
- Family leave reform that extended flexibility and choice for families came into force in 2022.
- Raising the minimum school leaving age from 16 to 18, aiming at all students to finish an upper secondary qualification.
- Increasing work-based immigration, attracting international talent and reforming immigrant integration services: target here is to at least double work-based immigration from its current level by 2030.
- Other active labour market measures: please see Labour Market Reforms
Finnish pension system “robust and well-functioning”
Finland’s earnings-related pension assets, including public sector pension assets, accounted for approximately 90 per cent of GDP in 2022. The most recent reform to the Finnish pension system was made in 2017. The most recent international evaluation of the pension system was published in September 2021.
- Read more: The Finnish pension system is robust and well-functioning, but it must prepare for future financial challenges (Finnish Centre for Pensions, September 2021)
- Read also: Long-term projections: Modest growth continues (Finnish Centre for Pensions, February 2024)
Sources:
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Population projection [e-publication]. ISSN=1798-5153. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 10.11.2021]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/vaenn/index_en.html
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Migration [e-publication]. ISSN=1797-6782. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 10.11.2021].
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Educational structure of population [e-publication]. ISSN=2242-2919. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 10.11.2021]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/vkour/index_en.html
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Births [e-publication]. http://www.stat.fi/til/muutl/index_en.html
ISSN=1798-2413. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 10.11.2021] Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/synt/index_en.html