Finnish Journal of Social Research

Stability or change? The long-term construction of ECEC rationales on the governmental and parliamentary levels in Finland

Marina Lundkvist, Mikael Nygård — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0300

In recent years, Finnish legislation on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) has been reformed several times as a way of increasing quality and enhancing children’s learning and wellbeing. However, little research has been conducted on what this means in terms of ECEC rationales on a national level and how such rationales have developed over time. Therefore, the aim of this article is to analyse the political construction of ECEC rationales over time by conducting qualitative content analyses of government bills and minutiae from parliamentary debates relating to three recent reforms (in 2015, 2018 and 2021). We argue that although the discourse on ECEC rationales is mainly characterised by stability, there are also elements of change. Rationales relating to equality, lifelong learning and children’s rights have remained more or less unchanged, while rationales relating to quality ECEC and parental involvement in ECEC have received a more prominent position since 2018.

Partnership pathways associated with lifetime childlessness in Belgium and Finland

Alice Rees, Christine Schnor, Marika Jalovaara — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0300

In recent decades, many European countries have witnessed both a rise in ultimate childlessness and increasing diversity in partnership trajectories. This paper investigates patterns of partnership trajectories associated with childlessness in Belgium and Finland from a life-course perspective. Using sequence and cluster analysis on register data, we examine the partnership histories of Belgian (N=19,590) and Finnish (N=13,368) men and women born in 1975, following them from age 18 to 45. We identified five typical partnership clusters among the Belgian childless and four among the Finnish. Three clusters—Never Partnered, Partnership Instability, and Marriage—are common to both countries. Most childless individuals in both countries remain unpartnered or face partnership instability. A turbulence index was then computed to assess the difference of turbulence of the sequences between the two countries. This paper contributes to the literature on childlessness by examining the heterogeneity of partnership biographies and cross-country differences using high-quality administrative data.

Perceptions of belonging and school climate in diverse Finnish secondary schools

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0300

We investigate how students in culturally diverse lower secondary schools experience belonging and school climate. The data consist of group interviews with 55 students (14–16 years old). Regarding a sense of belonging, the students discussed inclusion, exclusion and discrimination. The school climate was experienced as highly positive but simultaneously chaotic. The students perceived ethnic diversity as accepted and a marker of inclusion, whereas non-binary gender identity was reported as a reason for exclusion, which may be related to this specific school context. To construct a positive school climate for diversity, more detailed attention must be paid to diverse identities.

Taking back publishing ownership for academia through diamond Open Access

Aki Koivula, Irene Prix, Aleksi Karhula — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0300

Editorial note for volume 18 no. 1