Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government Programme of June 2023 includes issues that affect pensions in Finland. Among other things, the Programme states that the Ministry of Finance and the Finnish Centre for Pensions will make a joint assessment to find ways to stabilise the level of pension insurance contributions in the long term and significantly reinforce public finances as a whole over a sustained period using the rule-based fiscal stabilisation system. On a tripartite basis with the principal labour market organisations, the Government will assess the measures necessary for achieving this objective by January 2025.

In addition to the above and below, other entries in the Government Programme that concern pensions is the implementation of a linear model to consolidate disability pensions and earnings from work and making the provision on leaving disability pensions dormant permanent. The Government Programme also includes an entry on eliminating the effect of experience rating of employers’ pension insurance contribution for people over 55 years of age who are genuinely recruited as new employees.

Working group on pension reform

On 18 October, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Ministry of Finance have appointed a working group with the task to find the necessary measures to stabilise the long-term contribution level of the pension system. The working group includes members from the above Ministries, the social partners and an expert from the Finnish Centre for Pensions (Director Allan Paldanius). The working group is chaired by Department Manager Liisa Siika-aho, and the working-group’s term of office ends on 31 January 2025.

Read more on Etk.fi:

• Pension reform preparations 2023–2025

Pensions of self-employed persons

Determining the income from self-employment under the Self-employed Persons’ Pensions Act was reformed as of 1 January 2023. The aim was to find ways of improving the income from self-employment to better correspond to the factual income of the self-employed. However, during the parliamentary process, the Social Affairs and Health Committee found it important that the need for a more extensive reform of the pension and social security of the self-employed be examined and that the pension system continues to be developed. The 2023 Government Programme states that an evaluation of the developmental needs of the Self-employed Persons’ Pensions Act scheme will be initiated.

Overall reform of social security

An overall reform of social security written in the 2019 Government Programme was launched in the spring of 2020. A parliamentary committee that will prepare this reform was appointed in March 2020. Its term of office is from 23 March 2020 to 31 March 2027.

Research Professor Pasi Moisio (Finnish institute for health and welfare) chairs the committee. Mikko Kautto (Finnish Centre for Pensions) was the permanent expert member of the committee in its first term. The main committee was assisted during its first term of office by five divisions, of which three include representatives of the Finnish Centre for Pensions. The committee’s mid-term report was published in March 2023. The 2023 Government Programme’s entries that relate to, among other things, simplifying social security and developing one basic security benefit are based on this mid-term report.

During the second term of the committee, the expert member from the Finnish Centre for Pensions is Head of Department Susan Kuivalainen. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has also appointed an assessment and investigating group for the committee. The group’s task is to conduct evaluations and investigations, and to assist in the planning and coordination of more extensive investigations and research projects required for the committee’s work. The Finnish Centre for Pensions’ representative in this group is Senior Researcher Ilari Ilmakunnas.

Social security reform – Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (stm.fi)