The number of child welfare reports made from infants increased and the reasons for it can only be guessed
Issue|A child protection announcement is not always a bad thing, but it can also have positive consequences, says THL senior researcher.
The abstract is made by artificial intelligence and checked by man.
Exceptionally, the number of child welfare declarations made for the smallest children increased last year.
According to the National Institute for Health and Welfare, the number of reports of children aged 0-2 increased by as much as 12 %. Typically, the number has not increased much in recent years.
According to Minna Niemi, a senior researcher at THL, the reasons for growth can only be guessed.
One explanatory factor may be the lowered threshold to make child protection announcements, Niemi says.
Very The number of child welfare reports made for the youngest children increased last year.
According to the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), 2024 was exceptional, with the number of reports of children aged 0-2 years by as much as 12 %. Typically, the number has not increased much in recent years.
According to THL statistics, a total of 230,000 child protection announcements were made in 2024. From the previous year, the number of notifications increased by 15,000, or seven per cent.
There are several reports of the same child, and according to THL, an average of two notifications per child were made per child in 2024.
Causes At this stage, you can really only guess at this stage, says THL senior researcher Minna.
According to Niemi, one explanatory factor may be that the threshold for making a child protection notice may be lowered.
It is possible that the officials have been given more detailed guidance and training on making child protection announcements and that the notifications have been made more frequently, says Niemi. For example, clinics and early childhood education workers have a duty to report child protection if they are concerned that the child does not, for example, receive the care they need.
« That is, it may be that there has been no worrying turn in the situations of children or their parents, but the officials are more closely transmitted to different cases, » Niemi says.
« 0-2 year olds are a group that most people do not speak and even if they can speak, how they can say their own situation. Then it is especially important that adults who, for one reason or another, are concerned, make a child protection declaration. »
Possible refinement of practices may be related to the well -being areas that started in 2023. Before that, child protection was the responsibility of the municipalities, and different municipalities may have had different practices, for example, on how to instruct the officials to make child protection announcements.
Notified There is also another possible explanation for the increase in the number, which would be more worrying.
It is possible that cuts in social security and social and health services have reduced the financial situation and well-being of families with children.
Last year, several cuts came into force, including general housing allowance and unemployment benefits.
The cuts are significant, Niemi emphasizes.
« But we do not have a precise snapshot of how, for example, social security cuts have affected the financial situation of parents of young children, » he points out.
According to Niemi, it is unlikely that the cuts will appear so quickly in child welfare statistics, but it is possible. However, direct connection cannot be drawn, but the matter must be investigated in the longer term if the same trend continues.
In the same Unemployment has been growing longer.
« When you think of young adults who typically have babies, they have increased unemployment rates, which may be reflected in someone who wakes up about the child, » Niemi says.
Drug use culture in Finland has also changed in recent years, says Niemi. The corona pandemia has also left traces of young adults and families with children.
« All of these can be the factors (the increase in the number of child protection announcements), but now it is not well known whether it is a combined effect of different factors, or a particular issue is emphasized. »
Peninsula says he hopes that the statistical jump is about making child protection announcements more susceptible to even young children.
The child protection declaration does not lead to your automatic child protection customer, but when assessing the need for service, it may be made by the need to provide help with a difficult situation by lighter means.
It is also good to note that even though there was a spike in infant child protection announcements last year, the 0-2-year-old custody or investments outside the home have not increased.
« It’s an important stage of development and a life-constructive phase. A child protection announcement for children under the age of 2 can have a positive effect if the child and his parents receive a difficult situation immediately. »
