Finnish Policies for Reconciling Work and Family and the Usages of Europe
| Author | Kirsi Eräranta |
| DOI | 10.1177/138826271101300107 |
| Published date | 01 March 2011 |
| Date | 01 March 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
AND FAMILY AND THE USAGES OF EUROPE
Kirsi Eräranta*
Abstract
Drawing on the ‘usages of Europe’ approach, this paper examines the Europeanisation
of work/family reconciliation policies in Finland, an EU member since 1995. More
specifi cally, the paper analyses the ways in which EU resources have been used by
national actors to shape reconciliation policies. Th
e empirical materials consist
of Finnish policy texts on the topic published between 1980 and 2009. It is argued
that, while Europe has rarely been referred to in the revision of already-established
reconciliation policies, i.e. childcare services and family leave benefi ts, Europe
has played an important role in the emergence of new, labour market-oriented
reconciliation policies. Although the cognitive and normative inspirations for the
shift ing of reconciliation to the domain of labour market policy may have come from
various sources, the fi nancial and legal resources of the EU have provided Finnish
actors with a concrete means of introducing new policy instruments, such as work/
family projects in organisations and incentives for the more equal use of parental
leave, as well as new economic policy goals. Overall, the goals, domains, instruments,
and timing of Finnish reconciliation policies have followed those of the EU.
Keywords: Europeanisation; Finland; reconciliation of work and family; usages of
Europe
1. INTRODUCTION
Finland joined the European Union in 1995, along with Sweden and Austria. All the
major Finnish elites – in politics, public administration, interest organisations, the
private sector, and the media – were in favour of EU membership, largely because of
the country’s geopolitical situation and economic dependence on Western markets
(Raunio and Tiilikainen 2003).
*
Address: Department of Social Research: Sociology, PO Box 18, 00014 University of Helsinki,
Finland; phone: +358 (0)9 191 24587; e-mail: kirsi.eraranta@helsinki.fi .
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Kirsi Eräranta
Among Finnish citizens, however, opinions were more divided on the issue. In
the consultative referendum of 1994, 57 per cent of Finns supported, and 43 per cent
opposed, membership. In the referendum debate, a central argument of the opposition
concerned the EU’s potentially negative impact on the Nordic welfare state. A large
number of women, in particular, opposed membership. Th
ey reportedly feared that
it would undermine the high levels of social and political equality, both in terms of
welfare provision, and in civil, social, and employment rights (Raunio and Tiilikainen
2003).
Th
is paper turns to one object of these concerns: the ‘women-friendly’ policies for
reconciling work and family, which were developed in Finland years before accession
to the EU. I attempt to study the eff ects of EU membership on these policies from
a domestic actor-centred perspective. In doing so, my purpose is to contribute to
the research on the impact of EU membership on national welfare state reforms (for
example, Graziano, Jacquot and Palier, pp. 3–25 in this issue; Palier 2009; Saari and
Kangas 2007).
More specifi cally, the aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which recent
reforms represent a case of the ‘Europeanisation’ of reconciliation policies – the
adaptation of Finnish policies to European integration (Vink and Graziano 2007).
Th
e precise objective is to analyse the ‘usages of Europe’ (Jacquot and Woll 2003;
Woll and Jacquot 2010), i.e. the practices and political interactions in which diverse
national actors have used the EU and its resources as a set of opportunities to shape
reconciliation policies in Finland.1 Th
e empirical material consists of Finnish policy
texts and documentary material on the reconciliation of work and family, published
between 1980 and 2009.
In what follows, the Finnish case is fi rst contextualised with a brief discussion of
the country’s EU membership, relationship to Europe, and the fi t/misfi t of its care
and welfare regime. Th
e paper then proceeds to examine the development of Finnish
reconciliation policies and the usage of Europe in them. It is argued that, while in
the revisions of already established reconciliation policies, Europe has rarely been
referred to, in the emergence of new reconciliation policies, Europe has played an
important role. Whereas the cognitive and normative inspirations for the promotion
of reconciliation in working life may have come from various sources, the fi nancial
and legal resources of the EU have provided Finnish actors with a concrete means of
putting this activity into practice. Finally, the paper concludes by summarising and
discussing the results.
1
At the European level, work/family reconciliation was generally an instrument of gender equality
policy in the 1990s (Jacquot, Ledoux and Palier, pp. 26–46 in this issue). However, aft er its
integration into the European Employment Strategy (1997) and the Lisbon strategy (2000), it has
become a more narrow and instrumental tool of employment policy (ibid.).
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Intersentia
Finnish Policies for Reconciling Work and Family and the Usages of Europe
2.
A NORDIC COUNTRY IN THE EU
In the typologies of comparative welfare state research, Finland usually refl ects
the Nordic model. In the Nordic normative legacy, the state has a fundamental
responsibility for welfare provision (Kosonen 2001). A wide variety of services and
benefi ts are provided universally to all citizens in order to achieve social and gender
equality. Moreover, Nordic welfare states are known for their high levels of social
expenditure and taxation, a relatively equal income distribution, and high employment
rates among women and men (ibid.).
While these characterisations used to be more or less accurate, especially before
the 1990s, today the situation seems to have changed to some extent. In Sweden and
Finland, for example, the deregulation of fi nancial markets led to the overheating
of the economy in the late 1980s, which was followed by a recession and severe
unemployment in the 1990s (Kosonen 2001, Saari and Kangas 2007). In Finland,
these diffi
culties were exacerbated by the collapse of the Soviet Union. In this context,
Finland, like other Nordic countries, ended up retrenching and redesigning its welfare
policies, even though the main characteristics of these policies were maintained.
Finland’s preparation for EU membership, and for the third stage of the European
Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), contributed to tighter fi scal policies and
cuts in public spending throughout the 1990s (Kosonen 2001). Being the only Nordic
country to join the EMU at the beginning in 1999, Finland provides an interesting
case for analysing how more pressure on an EU candidate and EMU participating
country might bring about ‘usages’ of Europe. Th
e fi rst question to be addressed in
this paper is whether the references to the EU gradually increased in Finnish policy
texts throughout the 1990s as Finland orientated itself towards the EU (see Graziano,
Jacquot and Palier, pp. 3–25 in this issue).
Since the accession of Finland to the EU, Finnish civil servants and politicians
have been co-operative and committed to integration, even if they have been keen to
preserve the core elements of national social policy (Raunio and Tiilikainen 2003, Saari
and Kangas 2007). In their study of the implementation of six labour law directives
in 15 Member States, Falkner et al. (2005) place Finland in the category of the ‘world
of law observance’, along with the other Nordic EU members, Denmark and Sweden.
Despite some transposition problems, the typical patterns of implementing EU social
policy regulations in the national context show good compliance (ibid.).
Moreover, Finnish European policy has been consistently pro-integrationist and in
favour of increasing the powers of supranational institutions (Raunio and Tiilikainen
2003). Th
is is in contrast not only with the more intergovernmental approach of other
Nordic EU members, but also with low public support for the EU in Finland. In fact,
the popular legitimacy of the EU has been well under the EU average ever since the
country joined the EU (ibid.; see also Berg and Hjerm 2008). Th
e second question to
be answered in this paper is whether this discrepancy – Finnish elites’ positive views
versus citizens’ more sceptical views of the EU – may have resulted in ambivalent
European Journal of Social Security, Volume 13 (2011), No. 1
127
Kirsi Eräranta
usages of Europe, ranging from positive and explicit, to the non-existent or denied
(see Graziano, Jacquot and Palier, pp. 26–46 in this issue).
Th
e recession of the 1990s, export problems, and cutbacks in public services
were refl ected in the rise of unemployment rates. In 1990–94, the unemployment
rate went up from 3.2 to 16.6 per cent (Statistics Finland 2010). Unemployment hit
women, many of whom worked in the public sector, somewhat later than men, who
were predominantly employed in the private sector (ibid.). Since then, however,
employment has risen steadily (Table 1). In 2006, the employment rate was 67 per cent
for both women and men, whereas the respective rates in the EU-27 were 57 per cent
for women and 72 per cent for men (Statistics Finland 2010). Finland had thus already
reached the Lisbon female employment target of 60 per cent (see Jacquot, Ledoux and
Palier, pp. 26–46 in this issue).
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