Social assistance
Quality reports
Relevance of statistical data
The Register of Social Assistance contains information on the
number and composition of households receiving social assistance,
the duration of assistance and the average amounts paid to
recipients. Included are also cross-sectional data on recipient
households' income sources and household members' economic
activities (based on the classification of Labour Statistics) in
November. The statistical unit is a household. The data are
provided for each year. All Finnish municipalities report data on
social assistance electronically (using ADP systems) or using
manual statistical data forms.
Gross expenditure on social assistance. Data on gross
expenditure have been derived from THL's Preliminary Statistics on
Social Assistance, which provide summed-up municipal data by region
and province. Up to 2005, the gross expenditure data were based on
Statistics Finland's Statistics on Municipal Finances and
Activities. The expenditure data are also broken down by type of
assistance, by household and by individual, using averages
calculated based on THL's Register of Social Assistance.
The Statistics on Social Assistance are published annually on
THL's website in the form of a Statistical Report. The report text
describes the concepts, definitions and symbols used in the
statistics. The Statistical Report aims to provide administrators,
planning officers and researchers with information on social
assistance recipients. The collection of data is based on the Act
on the National Institute for Health and Welfare (668/2008) and the
Act on the Statistical Service of the National Research and
Development Centre for Welfare and Health (409/2001).
Description of methods
The population of the statistics on social assistance consists of
all households receiving social assistance during the calendar
year. In November each year, the municipalities receive
instructions and other materials for collecting the data. The
municipalities submit the data to THL at the latest by the end of
February the following year. If a municipality fails to respond
within due time, it will receive a reminder. The statistics are not
compiled until the data needed for the Register of Social
Assistance are obtained from all municipalities. The statistics
almost invariably have a coverage of 100 per cent.
Correctness and accuracy of data
The data
are correct in so far as they have been reported correctly. In the
municipalities that use ADP systems for data collection, the
correctness of data is affected also by the proper functioning of
software applications used in constructing reports from the basic
municipal data base.
Data on the number of recipient households in municipalities,
regions and provinces contain double entries as the same
person/household may have been registered as a client in several
municipalities during the period under study. Double entries
account for just under 10 per cent.
The Register of Social Assistance constitutes a personal data
file. Because of this, any double entries found will be stripped
from the statistics. This will cause the following changes to be
made in the basic data gathered from municipalities: During the
year, each household is registered in the data only once, and each
individual only in one household. The change is done so that each
household (or person) and related costs are registered only for the
municipality with the greatest number of months when the recipient
has been registered as a client during the year. The secondary
criterion is the amount of assistance in euros.
Comparability of statistical data
The National Statistics on Social Assistance were first collected
using ADP systems in 1969. All data and time series produced after
that year are comparable. Between 1969 and 1983, the statistical
data were based on the number of households receiving the type of
public assistance paid before social assistance. Statistical data
on recipients of the earlier type of public assistance largely
correspond to the data content of the social assistance statistics
compiled since 1985. The concepts and definitions used in the
statistics have been changed over the years, and new ones have been
brought into use in response to legislative changes.
In 2006, changes took place in the procedures for collecting
data on gross expenditure on social assistance. After the data
needed for the Register of Social Assistance were no longer
collected by Statistics Finland for the Statistics on Municipal
Finances and Activities, the collection was carried out in
connection with the Preliminary Statistics on Social Assistance
compiled by STAKES (now THL). However, this change did not greatly
affect the comparability of data, as for example in 2004-2005 there
were no significant differences (approx. 1%) between the
preliminary statistics by STAKES and the Statistics on Municipal
Finances and Activities by Statistics Finland.
Because of double entries, the expenditure data calculated from
THL's Register of Social Assistance differ slightly from the gross
expenditure data in THL's (previously STAKES) Preliminary
Statistics on Social Assistance, which provide summed-up municipal
data. However, the summed-up amount of the expenditure reported by
municipalities for the Register of Social Assistance is close to
these gross expenditure data. In 2008, the gross expenditure
reported as summed-up, municipality-specific amounts exceeded the
expenditure summed up from the Register of Social Assistance by
about 3 per cent.
Timeliness and promptness of published
data
The Statistics on Social Assistance are published each year in
November or December. With regard to the 2008 data, administrative
changes in data collection caused a two-month delay in the
compilation of the statistics. The annual statistics concern the
previous year, giving information on social assistance clients and
using a household as the statistical unit.
Accessibility and transparency/clarity of
data
The Statistical Report concerning the annual
statistics on social assistance is sent to all municipalities and
provinces.
The statistics are also available online at
http://www.thl.fi/en/tilastot/toimeentulotuenvuositilasto
Clarity and consistency
The Statistical Report provides nationwide information on the
number and composition of households receiving social assistance,
the duration of assistance, gross expenditure on social assistance
and cross-sectional data on household income sources and adult
household members' economic activities in November. As the annual
statistics on social assistance concern clients, each client
household is included in the statistics only once even if it
appeared in several municipalities. As for the regional statistics,
gross expenditure on social assistance were calculated up to 2005
on the basis of Statistics Finland's Statistics on Municipal
Finances and Activities and from 2006 onwards on the basis of the
Preliminary Statistics on Social Assistance by STAKES (as of 2009
THL).
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