4.1 General context
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Main challenges to social inclusion
On 31 August 2023, the Government issued a statement to Parliament on promoting equality, gender equality and non-discrimination in Finnish society. The statement contains a variety of measures aiming to promote equality and combat racism. Many of them are based on the Government Programme, but the statement also includes several new measures. For more information, see the press release (31.8.2023) and the government's constantly updated website Promoting equality.
According to the Being Black in the EU study (2018), published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, racial harassment and discrimination are experienced more in Finland than many other EU member states. Similarly, the findings of the MoniSuomi study (2022-2023), published by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, show that more than 40% of the adult population that are born abroad, have experienced discrimination in the past year. Among the others, both of these publications are referred to in the blog published 18.1.2024 by the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman which is entitled ‘The recent research results emphasise the need for actions related to rooting out racism and developing equality’ (available in Finnish). The blog is written by Airin Bahmani, who works as a junior specialist at the Office of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman.
Based on the School Health Promotion Study the proportion of children and young people who have been bullied at least once a week by gender and school level in the period 2006‒2023, is about 10 % among girls in grades 4-5 (10-11 years old) and generally among pupils in grades 8-9 (13-15 years old) (Jenni Helenius and Jenni Kivimäki 21.9.2023 Well-being of children and young people - School Health Promotion Study 2023). In the study, bullying refers to the harassment of a pupil by another pupil or a group of pupils either verbally or physically. Teasing a pupil repeatedly in ways he or she does not like is also considered bullying. An argument between two roughly equal pupils is not considered bullying. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare implements the study every other year. The study is carried out in educational institutions as an anonymous, independently completed online survey, which is filled out by the pupils and students in classes or groups during the school day.
In the same study, the amount of social inclusion was measured with the ‘Experiences of Social Inclusion Scale’ (in Finnish), which has been developed by the institute. The proportion of young people who experienced extremely poor social inclusion varies by gender and school level in the period 2019–2023 from about 5 to 15 %, with girls in grades 8-9 (13-15 years old) feeling the most socially excluded. Social inclusion indicator includes several aspects of social inclusion, such as whether the respondents feel they have the power to make an impact, whether they count their actions as being meaningful, and whether they feel a sense of belonging in communities they consider to be important. (For more information about the instrument see also Experiences of social inclusion scale (ESIS) by the European Commission’s European Social Fund Plus).
Definitions and concepts
Several definitions and concepts relating to social inclusion, which are used in Finland, are rooted in the European discussion. Therefore, there are no significant country-specific definitions and concepts. For example, the use of concepts as social inclusion, social exclusion and the NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training), are defined similarly in most of the European countries.