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Thu, 22 May, 2014 12:03:27 AM FTimes-STT Report, May 22  File picture of a baby on a baby blanket. Photo – Lehtikuva. The majority of families with children are not satisfied with the current child benefit system, according to the preliminary data released by a survey conducted by the Väestöliito (the Family Federation of Finland).
Lassi Lainiala, a researcher of the Väestöliito said only one out of every five families with children supports the current system.
The majority of families would like to see more support directed towards the low-income families.
Nearly 60 per cent of the respondents in the survey were of the opinion that high-income families should be granted less child allowance.
A third of the respondents would like child benefits to be scaled as per the income of high-income families.
“Child allowance is perceived as perhaps the last universal benefit which should be maintained,” said Lainiala.
According to Lainiala, around 60 per cent of the families with children would like to see a separate child allowance of 200 euros for the needy families.
File picture of mother and child in the home at Espoo. Photo – Lehtikuva. The support for a separate child allowance has increased by 10 per cent from that in the previous survey conducted four years ago.
This phenomenon, according to Lainala, has been caused by the increasing chasm between the haves and the have-nots, with the majority of the respondents citing that the gap has recently widened even further.
About 70 per cent of the respondents were insistent on this increasing rift in the economic status of families, with nearly 85 per cent of the single families also concurring with the observation.
Also, the survey revealed that parents with small children are not in favour of equal sharing of parental leave and homecare support between the father and the mother. Instead, most families were in favour of extending the paternal leave periods.
Respondents were generally satisfied with parental leave but wished that nursing leave allowance would be raised.
It was evident during the survey that majority of parents had to shelve their own hobbies and needs such as clothing as well as family trips.
However, families did not want to forsake buying clothes for children as well as their hobbies. According to Lainiala, the neediest of the families have also had complied with such needs.
Around 2,600 people responded to the family barometer.
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