Fewer and fewer child welfare notifications lead to a child welfare client relationship

The number of open care clients in child welfare has begun to decline. In 2024, there were 34,900 children as open care clients in child welfare, a decrease of 9 per cent from 2023. 

Of all children aged under 18 years, 3.4 per cent were open care clients in 2024.  The corresponding proportion in 2023 was 3.8 per cent. The number of clients decreased in 14 wellbeing services counties, remained unchanged in six and increased in three wellbeing services counties.

“What may explain the decline in the number of open care clients is that needs are increasingly responded to in the primary services provided to families with children,” says Development Manager Johanna Hedman from THL.

“However, the need for the support provided by child welfare will not disappear. Some children continue to also need corrective services, i.e., services providing stronger support. The risk is that children will become child welfare clients only in extreme situations, for example, when an emergency placement is already needed. Especially in the case of young people, it makes you wonder whether open care work is considered to be for them any more,” Hedman continues.

The number of child welfare notifications made especially for young children increased

In 2024, a child welfare notification was filed for 115,000 children, or 10.7 per cent of all children. The number of notifications increased by 4 per cent from the previous year. Exceptionally, the increase from the previous year was strongest among children aged under 13 years. Especially the number of notifications concerning children aged 0–2 increased, the increase being 12 per cent. Notifications made for children aged 3–6 increased by 7 per cent.

Notifications continued to be filed mostly for children aged 13 or over. A child welfare notification was filed for one out of six children aged 13–15 years in 2024.

The total number of child welfare notifications (230,000) increased by 7 per cent from the previous year. Several notifications may be filed for the same child during one year. 

Because notification practices and other factors may affect the figures, conclusions about the state of children’s wellbeing cannot drawn merely on the basis of the number of child welfare notifications. 

“The increase in the number of child welfare notifications concerning young children is a new phenomenon. This means that, more and more often, there is a need for child welfare to accompany people who work with children and families so that the situation of children and families can be assessed. The increase may reflect inadequate primary services or a decline in families’ financial situation. Financial problems weaken the wellbeing of families with children in many ways,” says Research Professor Taina Laajasalo from THL.

The social worker-to-client ratio and cuts made by the wellbeing services counties may affect the grounds for becoming a child welfare client

Under the law, a child welfare social worker must not have more than 30 clients. It has been presumed that the social worker-to-client ratio has tightened the criteria for when a child is considered to need child welfare services and when the other support measures are sufficient. 

Limiting the number of clients in child welfare enables child welfare social workers to focus on children for whom the grounds for the client relationship, i.e., the need for special protection, have been determined. It is known that, because of a lack of resources, some children have had to wait for their child welfare client relationship to begin, even though this is against the law. 

“However, there are concerns about whether the threshold for accessing child welfare may become too high. This may lead to strict criteria for the child welfare client relationship and limiting access to it, both of which may delay timely support,” Hedman says. 

The number of children placed in out-of-home care has not decreased  

A total of 17,100 children were in out-of-home care in 2024.  Two thirds (11,300) of them had been taken into care. Taking into care was the most long-term criteria for placing a child in out-of-home care. One per cent of all children had been taken into care. 

The number of new children taken into care was 1,750. Every year, the care order is terminated for about 6 per cent of the children who have been taken into care. 

The number of children and days in out-of-home care are similar to those of the previous years. 

“The Social Welfare Act was already reformed ten years ago, and the aim is to invest particularly in early support. The objective has not been achieved sufficiently or the services have not been effective because the number of children in out-of-home care has not decreased significantly at any point,” Hedman says. 

The number of children subject to an emergency placement remained at the same level as in the previous year, and their proportion was 0.5 per cent of all children. Twenty-eight per cent of children subject to an emergency placement were taken into care later during the same year.

The statistics on the client numbers in low-threshold primary services have been compiled only since 2023, and the data received from the wellbeing services counties are not yet reliable. As the counties are currently in the process of making changes to the social welfare information systems, THL will be able to publish better data on the services for families with children in the future.

Further information

Statistical report: Child welfare in 2024 

Johanna Hedman (development of child welfare) 
Development Manager  
tel. +358 29 524 7194
[email protected]

Taina Laajasalo (development of child welfare) 
Research Professor 
tel. +358 29 524 7982
[email protected]

Martta Forsell (statistical figures)
Development Manager
tel. +358 29 524 7974
[email protected]