The Youth Act defines young people as those under 29 years of age. In addition, there are some specific policy measures targeting different sub-groups among youth. For more information, visit Youth Wiki/Finland 1.3 National Youth Strategy.

At the same time, there are several specific legislative documents which use varying definitions of youth, which shows the flexibility of the concept. For example, in the Child Welfare Act of 2007 anyone under 18 years of age is considered to be a child and those who are aged between 18–20 are considered to be young persons. However, the statutory child benefit is paid only for those under the age of 17. The Act on Agricultural Structural Support defines “young” farmers as those who are younger than 41 years of age.

In addition, several national programmes and statistics agencies target young people but define their target groups in different ways. For instance, youth unemployment usually refers to those aged 15-24. Low-threshold One-Stop Guidance Centres (in Finnish: Ohjaamo) support and provide personal and individually tailored support for young people under 30 years of age.