The full consequences of cuts to civic organisations have not been understood

Finland’s social and health organisations have long served as an essential partner to the public sector, especially since the recession of the 1990s exposed gaps in public services. The state funded much of this work first through Finland’s slot-machine association and later through the Stea system.

That arrangement benefited both sides. Organisations took on tasks that many people notice only when serious illness or another crisis enters their lives. Much of their work has also focused on prevention. Alongside providing help, they have carried citizens’ voices into the political system.

The government’s budget negotiations kept in place next year’s large cuts to Stea grants. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government is therefore withdrawing from a division of labour built over decades, without a proper discussion about who will assume the organisations’ responsibilities. With funding cut by one-third, they can no longer continue as before.

The government is also changing how the remaining money will be distributed. Social Affairs and Health Minister Wille Rydman has set out the kinds of organisational work the state will fund. The direction, the editorial argues, is clear: narrow the organisations’ role to concrete assistance and remove their function as intermediaries for people’s demands and needs in political decision-making.

The state has always shaped the civic sector through funding conditions, requiring organisations to measure results and develop administrative expertise. The editorial accepts that public finances cannot shield the sector from every cut, and says some activities may deserve critical review. But it calls these reductions wholly unreasonable because they cannot be confined to administration and advocacy. They will inevitably reach frontline work and preventive services.

The organisations offer low-threshold support, peer assistance and services that can reach people authorities do not. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties lack the money and structures to replace them, while volunteer-based work is difficult to commercialise. The editorial says citizens should be told where they will receive the support, assistance and services previously provided by these organisations, if those services are to disappear.