What kind of country Finland is for families with children? THL invites parents of children born in 2017 to participate in a survey study
In spring 2024, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) conducts a survey targeted to families of pre-primary education children living in Finland. Half of the parents with children born in year 2017 are invited to participate. This means in practice approximately 50,000 parents of children starting school this year.
An extensive online survey will investigate how families of pre-primary education-aged children are doing and how they find Finland as a country for families with young children. Other points to be examined include how the available social, health and education services meet the needs of the families.
The study aims to promote welfare of all families with children and to reduce any social exclusion and inequality. The results will also be used in the assessment and development of services for families with children.
The survey is part of the THL’s FinChildren study. FinChildren surveys have previously been conducted among families with infants and four-year-old children.
"The FinChildren study produces regular monitoring data on the welfare of Finnish children of different ages and their families. The results provide important information to municipalities and wellbeing services counties about the health and welfare of families with children for the planning, implementation and assessment of services," describes Senior Researcher Maaret Vuorenmaa.
The basic results of the survey will be available online free of charge already in autumn 2024. Also national register data related to health and social services, early childhood education, and income are utilised in the study. The study also acts to promote the preparatory phase of an extensive data collection, the aim of which is to establish a novel national multidisciplinary birth cohort in Finland.
Participants sought from different parts of Finland and from families whose home language is other than Finnish or Swedish
The study helps to produce up-to-date and representative data on the health and welfare of the children born in 2017 and their families. Every response to the survey increases the coverage and reliability of the collected data.
Families across the whole Finland are invited to participate in the survey and responses are requested also from families whose home language is other than Finnish or Swedish. In addition to Finnish and Swedish, the survey invitations and questionnaires are available in English, Estonian, Russian, Somali, Arabic and Kurdish.
"The response of every person invited to participate is important, as the questions examine the parents' personal views, experiences and opinions on parenthood, family life and needs of support. We seek information on the experiences of parents from all over Finland so that the results would realistically describe the current wellbeing of families living in different parts of the country and in different life situations," Vuorenmaa says.
Invitations to the study are sent by post to recipients randomly selected from the Population Information System. The online survey will be open between February and May 2024. Data security is ensured with particular care, and it is not possible to identify any individual respondent or child from the study material or the results.
Further information
FinChildren survey (in Finnish)
The multidisciplinary birth cohort project (in Finnish)
Maaret Vuorenmaa (FinChildren study)
Senior Researcher
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)
Tel. +358 29 524 7008
[email protected]
Birgit Simell (national multidisciplinary birth cohort project)
Development Manager
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)
tel. +358 29 524 7735
[email protected]
