Social Assistance in Helsinki in the 2010s
In the beginning of 2017, the administrative responsibility for basic social assistance was transferred from the municipalities to Kela. The transfer was expected to reduce poverty and improve access to primary benefits. In addition, it was thought to simplify and equalise the procedures related to decisions and payments, ease the compilation of statistics, and free resources for social work in the municipalities.
The aim of this project is to study the effects of the transfer on basic social assistance recipients and applicants and to examine how receiving other benefits from Kela linked to social assistance recipiency in 2011–2019, i.e. before and after the transfer. Additionally, this project explores the effects of lowering the reimbursement rate of Type 2 diabetes medicines in 2017 on the use of social assistance. The study focuses on the population of Helsinki during the abovementioned period.
The project combines the City of Helsinki’s social assistance data from 2011–2017 with Kela’s register data from 2011–2019.
Researchers
- Tuija Korpela, Leading Researcher
- Jenni Blomgren
- Hanna-Mari Heinonen
- Signe Jauhiainen
- Markus Kainu
- Markku Laatu
- Hannu Mattila
- Tapio Räsänen
- Hanna Rättö
Project Implementation Period
18.9.2017–31.12.2023. The project has ended.
Project Results
This project particularly focused on examining changes in the use of basic social assistance and other Kela-paid benefits among residents of Helsinki in connection with the transfer of basic social assistance to Kela based on a large set of register data on the residents of Helsinki in 2011–2019.
A working paper published in 2023 looked at the use of health-based benefits among recipients of basic social assistance and changes that occurred therein in connection with the transfer of basic social assistance to Kela. The results show that basic social assistance recipients were more likely than the rest of the population of the same age to receive most of the various health-based benefits once the differences between the groups in terms of gender, age, marital status and annual income were standardised for. However, recipients of basic social assistance were less likely to receive Kela-paid disability pension or disability benefits than the control group. The correlation primarily grew stronger in connection with the transfer of basic social assistance to Kela, which means that the receipt of basic social assistance was more closely linked to the receipt of health-based benefits after basic social assistance was transferred to Kela in 2018 than before in 2016. The working paper and blog post that related to this topic were compiled in cooperation with the research project on the use of social security benefits and services in Oulu in 2013–2018.
In addition, the project examined on a more general level the changes that occurred in Helsinki in applying for and the granting and duration of the assistance in connection with the transfer of basic social assistance to Kela. A research article on the topic was published in 2024.
Publications
- Kela-siirto madalsi kynnystä hakea perustoimeentulotukea (Kelan tutkimusblogi 6.6.2024)
- Toimeentulotuen saajien terveysperusteisten etuuksien ja terveyspalveluiden käyttö: Rekisteritarkastelu Helsingissä ja Oulussa (Kela, työpapereita)
- Toimeentulotuen asiakkaat saavat terveysperusteisia etuuksia yleisemmin kuin muu väestö (Kela, tutkimusblogi 1.12.2023)
- Lower Threshold for Claiming? Basic Social Assistance Recipiency in Helsinki Before and After the Centralisation Reform (research article, in Finnish)
