Tekijät

• SOSTE Finnish Federation for Social Affairs and Health

Asiasanat

administration, employment services, local government services, public services, social security benefits, social services, social welfare, social welfare expenditure, social welfare organizations, welfare policy, youth

Sisällön kuvaus

The sociobarometer is a wide-ranging survey charting expert opinion on the welfare of Finnish citizens, and on the present state of welfare services. Themes for the 2014 survey included current state and future of the services, municipal welfare report, youth services, the reform of social security benefits, joint provision of services, and the role of health and social service organizations in providing services. The respondents were managers or management groups of municipal health and social service offices, employment offices, and local offices of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela).

There were separate questionnaires for each organisational sector, with somewhat differing questions for each.

The questions common to all organisations studied opinions on the general well-being of the population in the municipality/area as well as joint provision of services in the form of one stop shops.

The respondents were first asked there were sufficient resources to provide the required services at the time of the survey and 12 months after the survey. The respondents were asked to assess how certain factors would shape social and health services in the future. The representatives of the health and social services were also asked about the impact of possible austerity measures, and which areas of health and social services they thought would be emphasized in the next 10 years. The respondents representing employment offices were asked about the impact of 2013 employment office reform.

Regarding youth services, the respondents were asked about the implementation and impact of the Youth Guarantee (a government project aiming to help young people gain access to education and employment) in their area, and about youth guidance and service networks in the area. The representatives of health and social service offices were also asked about their views on children's daycare services, preparation of a municipal welfare report, and the economic assessment of services.

Kela offices and health and social service offices were also asked about a possible social security benefits reform. Opinions on the use of social assistance and who should be responsible for which social security benefit were charted. Finally, the respondents were asked about role of different organisations and institutions in the welfare of Finnish citizens at the time of the survey and in the future.

The background variables included, depending on the organisation, the name of the organisation, municipality/area, and the number of inhabitants in the municipality/area.