countries - Finland

The information contained on this page was compiled in April 2009 by our country team.

Contact:
Antti Teittinen
Finnish Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Viljatie 4 A
00700 Helsinki

Email: antti.teittinen@kvl.fi
Web: www.faidd.fi

The full text can be downloaded here.

The key national bodies with responsibility for disability law and policy implementation include:

Key government Ministries are responsibility for disability law and policy implementation in their respective areas, while the municipalities are required to provide health and social services locally (co-ordinated by the Provincial State Offices).

Finland has signed the United Nations Convention and the Optional Protocol.

Important national laws, policies and strategies concerning disabled people include:
Summary of services and benefits

Key features of the national system include (including adapted items from the MISSOC database December 2008):

Disability benefits
The ethos and practice of welfare is based on the idea that disabled people do not have to work and the welfare state attempts to compensate this handicap with the disability pension. (see Report on the employment of disabled people in Europe (Finland) 2008)

Data on population indicate that:
Population statistics in Finland include data on population by age-group (end 2007), population structure, population projection, area (population and GDP by region, largest municipalities, families (2007), families and children, vital statistics, foreigners in Finland and asylum-seekers and refugees. Disabled people are not classified in population statistics, because of legislation and its labelling characteristic.

Finnish Society for Disability Research (Suomen Vammaistutkimuksen Seura ry., Sällskapet för Handikappforskning i Finland rf) is the national academic network for disability research

Finnish Society for Disability History (Vammaishistorian Seura ry., Handikapphistoriska Sällskapet rf)

The Nordic Network for Disability Research provides networking resources for researchers from all of the Nordic countries

The national organisation representing disabled people at the European level (European Disability Forum) is:

Finnish Disability Forum encourages disabled people's equality and participation and seeks to influence national and international policy. It has 27 member organisations.

Useful sources of more detailed information about the situation of disabled people, and the policies and support available, include:

The 2008 research bulletin of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland reports that disability policies differ from other Nordic Countries

A brief summary of disability services in Finland  (portal of general information in Finland)