Comparison of adult social work and income support between the six largest cities

Data on income support for the six largest cities in 2005-2021. For income support, both clients (households and individuals) and costs are examined.

Income support has been included in the comparisons since the beginning of the Kuusikko work. The operations started between the three cities in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area as early as 1994, when the first comparison of the number of clients and costs of income support was made on the basis of the 1993 data. The first income support report for five cities was made using the 1995 data when Turku and Tampere joined the work. The actual Kuusikko was reached in 2005 when Oulu also participated in the income support comparisons.

In 2011, the Six Cities published the first report on adult social work in the six largest cities. Adult social work reports have focused more on describing the operating environment, operating methods and client base than other Kuusikko reports. The 2019 report also contains more numerical data than earlier reports. However, in the absence of a national definition of adult social work and due to differences between the structures and processes of adult social work in different municipalities, the available data is not always fully comparable between municipalities.

Since the granting and payment of basic income support was transferred to Kela in 2017, the previously separate reports on adult social work and income support have been combined into a single publication. The reports on adult social work and income support have been produced in cooperation with the expert working group on adult social work in the six largest cities.

The Six Cities comprise the six largest cities in Finland by population. In the order of population, the Six Cities are Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Oulu and Turku. The Kuusikko working groups compare the health and social services, employment services and early childhood education services in the cities. The data on customer numbers, services, personnel and costs are mainly compiled from the municipalities’ own information systems and financial statements. Experts from the cities agree on the most uniform definitions for data collection and implement the data collection in practice.