finland
Finland: Pension contributions temporarily lowered
Finnish Centre for Pensions (06.04.2020) Employers’ earnings-related pension contributions have been temporarily lowered by around 2% (until the end of the year). This measure is financed by cutting into the EMU buffer (to a value of €900 million). Businesses whose operations have stopped completely due to the epidemic can postpone the payment of their earnings-related pension contributions by three months at the most. The above measures will reduce the contribution income of pension providers in 2020 by an estimated one billion euros.
Finland: Processing of unemployment benefit applications to be accelerated
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (08.05.2020) Based on a temporary amendment, unemployment benefit can be paid without a decision, as an advance payment, for a period of six months instead of the current period of two months. The President of the Republic approved the act on temporary derogations from the Unemployment Security Act due to the coronavirus epidemic. The act will enter into force on 11 May 2020 and it will remain in force until 31 October 2020.
Finland: Sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease provides loss-of-income compensation for persons placed in quarantine
kela.fi (02.03.2020) Kela can pay a sickness allowance on account of an infectious diseases to employees who have been ordered to stay away from work in order to prevent the spread of a communicable disease such as the novel coronavirus. The sickness allowance is also available to the provider of a child under the age of 16 who is placed in quarantine, making it impossible for the provider to continue working while the quarantine is in effect.
Finland’s Basic Income Experiment Shows Recipients Are Happier and More Secure
bloomberg.com (04.04.2019) Unemployed people derive significant psychological benefits from receiving a fixed amount of financial support from the state, according to a landmark experiment into basic income in Finland that highlights the disadvantages of the country’s existing means-tested system.
{Report} Why Nordic nations are the best places to have children
World Economic Forum t15.03.2019) Other nations often look to Scandinavia for inspiration on family policies. The region’s childcare arrangements are among the most generous in the world, supporting parents from the early days of pregnancy to school and beyond.
Finlande: Moins anxieux grâce au revenu de base
Alternatives Economiques (01.03.2019) Les premiers résultats d’une expérimentation montre que le revenu de base accroît le bien-être des allocataires, même s’ils ne retrouvent pas plus souvent un travail
Finnish finance minister: ‘Case closed’ for universal basic income
EurActiv (12.02.2019) Finland is the first country to complete a nation-wide experiment on universal basic income. With the first results in, Finnish finance minister Petteri Orpo told EURACTIV.com that the largest parties in his country don’t support the idea anymore
Estonia and Finland first to start exchanging healthcare data by end of year
EurActiv (05.10.2018) Estonia and Finland will start exchanging digital prescriptions at the end of the year, in a groundbreaking move that Estonian Health Minister Riina Sikkut said she hoped other EU countries will follow. Speaking to EURACTIV.com on the sidelines of the ongoing European Health Forum in Gastein, Austria, Sikkut said that in Estonia, it is common practice for healthcare professionals to use the e-health system to exchange patient medical records.
Finland's first Action Plan on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will strengthen the rights of people with disabilities
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (13.03.2018) The Action Plan will implement the UN Convention that entered into force in summer 2016. The aim is to strengthen the rights of persons with disabilities and to improve their opportunities for participation.