Welfare system 1

The Finnish welfare state has represented the tradition of Nordic welfare state model. The equality between men and women has been emphasized in all Nordic countries and for that the welfare system has been in a crucial role. In practice the state shares with all families both the expenses and the workload of having children. The development of the day care system for young children has enabled women to take widely part in working life, and about 70% of mothers of small children do it. All children under school age (7 years) have the right to municipal day care.

The basic elements in the Finnish social protection system are preventive social and health policy, social and healthcare services, and social insurance. The main aim is to safeguard people's income by prividing a comprehensive system of basic security and income-related benefits. The purpose is to guarantee a reasonable level of consumption in different risk situations. An important element in the Finnish social protection system is the comprehensive social health services it provides, as the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health emphasizes.

According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health the ratio of social expenditure to GDP is now under the EU average. In 2003, social protection expenditure accounted for 26.9% of GDP. Social expenditure is mainly financed by employers, central government and the municipalities. The ratio of social expenditure to GDP is now under the EU average. In 2003, social protection expenditure accounted for 26.9% of GDP. Social expenditure is mainly financed by employers, central government and the municipalities.

Naturally there are many challenges the society is facing in near future. One important issue is how to take care of the elderly people. The Government started in autumn 2003 the Social Welfare Development programme which first object was the improvement of care and services for older people.

Reference:

http://www.finland.or.jp/Public/default.aspx?contentid=147099&nodeid=41292&contentlan=2&culture=en-US

Finland

Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland. The capital city is Helsinki.

Around 5.3 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern part of the country.It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely　populatedcountry in the European Union. The native language for most of the population is Finnish, a member of the Finno-Ugric language family most closely related to Estonian, and is one of only four official EU languages not of Indo-European origin. The other official language of Finland, Swedish, is the mother tongue of 5.5 percent of the population. Finland is a democratic, parliamentary republic with a mostly Helsinki-based central government and local governments in 348 municipalities. A total of a million residents live in Greater Helsinki (including Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa) and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other major cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Kuopio and Lahti.

Finland was historically a part of Sweden and from 1809 an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire. Finland's declaration of independence from Russia in 1917 was followed by a civil war, wars against the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and a period of official neutrality during the Cold War. Finland joined the United Nations in 1955, the OECD in 1969, and the European Union in 1995 and participates in the Eurozone. Finland has been ranked the second most stable country in the world, in a survey based on social, economic, political, and military indicators.
Finland has good results in many international comparisons of national performance such as the share of high-technology manufacturing, public education, health care, the rate of gross domestic product growth, and the protection of civil liberties.

Reference

"Finland." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Apr 2009, 06:43 UTC. 22 Apr 2009 .

My topic

I'm interested in welfare because I belong to volunteer club and I talk with old people every Saturday. They told me nice stories about culture, war, old traditional events and so on. I like to hear that so I hope that they alive for a long time.
When I saw News on TV, I knew that Finland has good system of welfare. I want to know more about that.
I tried to examine about Finland. I will use Internet, books and newspaper. If I have free time, I will go to the library and find material about Finland.

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