The Family Federation of Finland

Mona Jonsson, Master of Social Services, Department Manager, Child Care Unit

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Väestöliitto

• is a family organization working in the social and health sector

• provides services, carries out research, influences society

• has 29 member organizations• has 150 employees and 100 child-minders• has offices and clinics in Helsinki, Oulu, Turku and Tampere

• founded in 1941

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Väestöliitto’s mission

A healthy, safe and balanced life begins within the family and impacts the whole society.

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Väestöliitto’s values

• Humanity• Reliability• Freedom from prejudice• Capability to cooperate• Justice

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What we do

• Our studies and services give information about people’s everyday life which facilitates predicting the risks factors

• Influence decision-makers, society and public opinion

• Provide valued and reliable services and expertise

• International dimension

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Strategy

• Väestöliitto supports family formation and having children, parenthood, and coping with everyday life as well as good couple relationships

• Väestöliitto strives to prevent the health risks and strengthen young people’s prerequisities for growth so that they would experience themselves and their bodies valuable

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• Promotes tolerance and understanding of multiculturalism by providing family centered counselling

• Promotes sexual health and rights nationally and globally

• Treats infertility, provides sexual and couple therapy, child care service and genetic counselling

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Activities

• Family policy– support for families in everyday life– parenthood – couple relationship

• Sexual health and rights– especially young people and men– global dimension

• Research• Medical services

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Challenges

• to influence society towards a more family friendly atmosphere

• the prevention of impoverishment and marginalization– to help families cope with their every day lives

• strong parenthood and presence• cooperation

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Challenges

• couple relationships – stability, skills and easy-access services

• to improve young people’s sexual health and support their psycho-social well-being

• to enhance cooperation in the near-neighbouring areas

• secure the operational preconditions of Finnish NGOs

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Child Care

• Service since 1989 • The Child Care supports families in the capital area

• Reasons for ordering support in the family: illness, social support, disability, lack of resources

• Lately it’s more common for a mother to be at home during the carers’ working time – support is though given for parenthood as well

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Clients

• Families who order and pay themselves (subsidized fee)

• Social welfare offices from municipalities• Employers who pay for the care of their employees sick child

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Numbers in 2006

• The total number of service hours was 37 000

• There were 985 client families• Families were visited 6 600 times 5,54 hours/time

• There were 99 workers who took care of the children

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Significant Developments

• Better Coping with Everyday Life –project 2007-2009– ”drifting” families and Coping of Daily Life with Sequence Map - method

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Sequence

• PhD Pirjo Korvela made her research to find out what is actually relevant in everyday life of families. She found out the sequence structure of a day.

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The four to six sequences of a day in dual-

worker or single-parent families

Sequence 2: Coming back home and settling down

Sequence 3: Doing something together

Seq. 4: Putting children to bed

Time at work and in day care

Sequence 1: The morning chores for leaving home

Early morning

Night

Time:

Seq. 6: Retiring for sleep

Seq. 5: Working, adults’ own time

(Source: Korvela, 2003)

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Home as an activity (Korvela 2003)

• Home is made and constructed with the family members actions

• Other activity systems are also taking part of constructing the home

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Drifting family excluded from the community (cf. Korvela, 2003)

Subject: Family

with children

Object: surviving moment by moment

Outcome: Home drifting excluded from the community

Instruments: Reacting the object

and situations faced

Rules:Timetables of other aactivity systems, like work, school, day-care-center

Community: Social groups family members are involved like hobbies, parish, friends, relatives, earlier homes, etc.

Division of labor: Day-care-center takes care of the children during daytime, help for grandparent, friends, social workers, etc.

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• If the connections to other activity systems will cut or are cutted by the family itself, the family may start drifting and will easily exclude from the cummunity

• Trust on the community makes a protective cocoon (Giddens)

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Sequence map• A three-year-project for developing a new family work method (Funded by the Lottery Fund in 2007-2009).

• Tool for reflecting not the problems but the present doings at home.

• Tool for developing more structured daily rhythm based on children basic needs.

• Transparent for family members and professionals.

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Coping levels in daily life

Drifting, unpredictible chaos

Rigid, without flexibilityRunning,

smooth daily life

(Source: Jonsson, 2006)

Thank You!