The effectiveness of social security in the diverse and changing life situations of adolescents

Abstract

The aim was to form an overall picture of the effectiveness of social security among adolescents in terms of income. In 2023, two thirds of persons aged 16–29 received Kela’s benefits.

We compared social security in the Nordics, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Great Britain and noticed that the targeting of housing allowance and the share of loan in student aid varied between the countries.

In the Finnish system, we observed an increase in solo-dwelling students, amount of student loans, and young women’s recipiency of sickness allowance and a decrease in the need for basic social assistance.

The need for basic social assistance was temporary for most adolescents and only few disabled young persons received income from work. The need for employment benefits and basic social assistance was greater among adolescents with a foreign native language.

Having low income was the most common among adolescents outside the labour force due to studying, unemployment, or other reasons. As a result of the 2024 legislative changes, the at-risk-of-poverty rate increases more among the unemployed than other socioeconomic groups. The incentives for full-time employment will increase.

Solo dwelling is a poverty risk in all of the studied countries, especially in Denmark, where housing allowance is targeted to families with children. The poverty gap of solo dwellers was the lowest in Finland.

Full text (in Finnish) (julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi)

Authors

Kaisa Hynynen, Jukka I Hänninen, Siru Keskinen, Tuija Korpela, Hennamari Mikkola, Jyrki Pappila, Marjo Pyy-Martikainen, Reeta Pösö, Matti Rantanen, Terhi Rautesalo, Tuomas Sarparanta, Ella Sihvonen, Miska Simanainen, Niko Tanski, Antti Teittinen, Margit Tepponen, Markus Valle, Aino Wegelius, Vesa Ylönen

Additional Information

• Peer-Reviewed: no.
• Open Access: yes.
• Cite as: Hynynen, K., Hänninen, J. I., Keskinen, S., Korpela, T., Mikkola, H., Pappila, J., Pyy-Martikainen, M., Pösö, R., Rantanen, M., Rautesalo, T., Sarparanta, T., Sihvonen, E., Simanainen, M., Tanski, N., Teittinen, A., Tepponen, M., Valle, M., Wegelius, A., & Ylönen, V. (2024). Sosiaaliturvan toimivuus nuorten erilaisissa ja muuttuvissa elämäntilanteissa. Valtioneuvoston kanslia. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-160-5