Activation', referring to measures that increase the labour supply, has recently been a key concept in discussing employment in the developed countries. This paper analyses the motivations behind activation measures targeted at the unemployed as well as persons disabled due to mental health problems, as expressed through legislation and national policy documents following the 1990s recession in Finland. The analysis points out that the activation measures implemented in Finland at the turn of the millennium have had a tendency to reinforce 'dualisation', that is, to polarise citizens as either labour market insiders or outsiders. The analysis shows that activation also involves labels that fix blame on the people themselves for their situation. Hence, the activation measures have increased the risk of exclusion for many of the persons they were supposed to help. The results are discussed in the context of the broader literature on the Nordic welfare and labour market model.
This study fills a gap in gambling research by inquiring into the ways in which people make sense of their country’s gambling policy as a comprehensive logic with interrelated facets. Nineteen focus group interviews were conducted with 88 persons in Helsinki, Finland. The interview protocol involved discussion stimuli and tasks. The study participants expressed the view that the public image and function of gambling provision involves a great deal of contradictory elements. Even though the existing monopoly system was given approval in terms of yielding funding to good causes, the interviewees were still critical of how the monopoly system worked when it comes to advertising, availability, and customer loyalty programs. A core dilemma identified was whether the system aims to prevent gambling-related problems or whether it does, in fact, promote gambling consumption. If skilfully executed, the study method can be fruitful for discerning core logical inconsistencies in the gambling regulation systems of other countries as well.RésuméL’étude comble une lacune dans la recherche sur les jeux de hasard en s’interrogeant sur la manière dont les gens perçoivent la politique de jeu de leur pays en tant que modèle logique complet avec facettes interdépendantes. On a effectué dix-neuf entrevues dans des groupes de discussion regroupant 88 personnes à Helsinki, en Finlande. Le protocole d’entrevue comportait des points de discussion et des tâches. Les participants à l’étude ont exprimé l’opinion voulant que l’image publique et la fonction de l’offre de jeu comprennent beaucoup d’éléments contradictoires. Même si le système de monopole existant avait l’approbation du public en raison du soutien financier apporté à de bonnes causes, les personnes interrogées étaient tout de même critiques à l’égard du monopole et de son fonctionnement en ce qui concerne la publicité, l’offre et les programmes de fidélisation des clients. On a relevé un important dilemme, à savoir si le système visait à prévenir les problèmes de jeu ou s’il favorisait en fait la consommation de jeux. Habilement appliquée, la méthode d’étude peut servir à démontrer les incohérences logiques fondamentales dans les systèmes de réglementation de jeux de hasard d’autres pays également.
The Finnish national hospital discharge registers from 1985 and 1988 have been analysed by the National Board of Health. Results are provided for all the 21 Finnish hospital districts and central communal organizations. The small area variation phenomenon in hospital utilization cannot be explained by demographic or epidemiological factors. Rather, the variations seem to be largely due to organizational factors. The project aims to develop a data processing system capable of handling information on one million patients rapidly and economically, and show the results in an intelligible form as a table with standard headers or as a map illustration. Maps are superior to traditional statistical tables in demonstrating regional variations in health care utilization and in mortality. Maps based on small administrative units are useful for many purposes. These maps are, however, relatively 'noisy' due to substantial random variation. Coordinate-based mapping is a method to overcome some of these difficulties. It is based on linking hospital discharge and mortality data with exact address data. The method allows mapping independent of administrative boundaries. Several examples of coordinate-based maps are given. The method is used in Finland for annual analysis of hospital use.
This study is concerned with the Finnish government’s political programmes (N=42) from the 1950s to the present. Its objective is to examine how conceptions of the welfare state have changed over the past 65 years. The analysis concentrates on the social and health care sectors as indicators of the content and nature of the ambitions set for the welfare system by the highest political leadership. The programmes were examined for their aims, character and concepts. The governments’ changing position towards its welfare political mandate emerges in three distinct periods: 1) 1950 through the 1970s, when the welfare state was being constructed; 2) the 1980s and 1990s, as the concept was further developed and internally synchronized; and 3) 2000 to 2015, a time of increasing estrangement from universal notions. The study shows that as late as 2014, the welfare state’s aims of inclusion and universalism were dramatically toned down to an absolute minimum in the government programmes. The article shows that in contemporary times, the coalition government system may have strengthened the welfare state ethos. This is a finding of great significance for a structural-political perspective on the support of welfare state ideas.
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