Support services for daily living

The phenomenon of support services for daily living compiles statistics and monitoring of several services and benefits that support daily living. The phenomenon includes annual data on social assistance, processing times of applications for social assistance, home care, and institutional and housing services in social services.
Statistics on these services provide an overall picture of financial support and social services that support daily living and functional capacity.

Social assistance expenditure turned to growth in 2024 despite a decline in the number of recipients

In 2024, there was an increase in social assistance expenditure for the first time in several years. Expenditure increased to EUR 804 million, which is 1.7% more than in 2023. At the same time, however, the number of households receiving social assistance continued to decline: 256,000 households (-2.8%) and 377,000 people (-2.6%) received assistance compared to the previous year.

The number of households receiving basic social assistance decreased by 3% and the number receiving supplementary social assistance declined by 8% compared with 2023. The number of households receiving preventive social assistance decreased by 6%

Of all households receiving social assistance, 40% received social assistance for 1–3 months, 31% for 4–9 months and 29% for 10–12 months.  

Processing times of social assistance applications mainly within statutory deadlines

Based on a national examination, the processing times of social assistance applications remained largely within the statutory deadlines in October 2025. The majority of the applications were processed within the statutory seven working days, but there was variation in processing times depending on the form of social assistance and the wellbeing services county.

The processing times are examined separately for basic social assistance and supplementary and preventive social assistance.
Read more about the processing times of social assistance [statistics tab]

Number of home care clients continues to decline despite a growing older population

The number of home care clients decreased by five per cent in 2024 compared to 2023. In 2024, the number of home care clients was 161,000, of whom 107,000 received regular home care. Regular home care was received by 13 per cent of those aged 75 or over, which is one percentage point less than the year before. The decline was influenced by both the increase in the older population and the decrease in the number of home care clients. The number of home care visits carried out was 40.6 million, of the visits nearly all (99%) took place with regular home care clients.

Decrease in the number of clients in institutional services for older people and persons with intellectual disabilities

At the end of 2024, institutional and housing services for older people had around 55,000 clients. The number of clients in institutional services for older people decreased by 20 per cent from the previous year.

Over the previous ten years, the number of clients in institutional services at the end of the year has decreased by 80% in services for older people and by 60% in services for persons with intellectual disabilities. Meanwhile, the number of clients in sheltered housing with 24-hour assistance has increased by about 30% during the same period.

Key reporting services

• Institutional care and housing services in social services database report (overview)
• Sotkanet indicators on social assistance
• Compilation view of the social assistance processing times
• Social assistance processing times database report (overview)
• Sotkanet indicators for regular home care 

Next publications on the topic

The more exact publication time can be found in the publication calendar.
Publication calendar for statistics