2024

Abolishment of Adult Education Support 

Adult education support was abolished in Finland as of August 2024 according to current government's program. The aim of the abolishment is to increase employment and reduce public expenditure.

The discontinuation of adult education support is expected to impact public funds mainly through the reduction of benefit expenses and an increase in employment. The abolition of adult education support is estimated to reduce public spending by 175 million euros annually and increase employment by 10,000 individuals per year. To be eligible for the support, students had to be firmly established in the workforce, and the requirement for receiving the benefit was committing time to studies, which required reducing working hours. 

The anticipated outcomes of the adult education support were not realised as expected

The aim of adult education support was to respond to the changes in the labor market caused by technological development and globalisation by enabling continuous learning. The purpose of the benefit was to help working adults develop their skills through further studies. It gave the opportunity to take unpaid study leave from work without significant financial difficulties.

However, studies and reports indicated that the benefits of adult education support were not sufficient to cover the costs related with education. Those who benefited most from education during their careers were those who had only completed primary and lower secondary education and were raising their educational level.  The proportion of higher education graduates among adult education support receivers was higher than their share of the adult population or workforce. Despite this, the benefits for requalification university graduates were not enough to compensate the costs of education.

2022

Digital service package for continuous learning

The aim is to develop a digital service package for continuous learning, which would consist of interconnected smart e-services and related information reserves. Every individual (including employed persons) would have easy access to career planning online: to identify their own interests, constraints and skills, to define a future target state and to identify opportunities from the perspective of competence development and employment. Alongside the transfer of TE services and the preparation of the labour market service model, the Finnish Government is preparing a number of other reforms that will improve the services for jobseekers and promote employment, such as the reform of digital TE services. The positive employment impact will be generated by the combined effect of these reforms.