Social security cuts deepen poverty among families with children – Good Holiday Spirit collection brings joy to the holiday season of low-income families
Poverty among families with children is a major social problem in Finland. Around 130,000 children, or 13% of all children, live in low-income families. Cuts to social security have further exacerbated the plight of families in a vulnerable situation. Starting on 14 November, the Good Holiday Spirit collection, organised by the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare and the Finnish Red Cross, will bring joy to low-income families by distributing 18,000 food gift vouchers for Christmas.
Growing expenses are causing low-income families with children to lack basic necessities such as adequate food, clothing and housing. Poverty is also associated with experiences of loneliness and marginalisation in children, which can have a negative impact on their later lives.
“MLL has hundreds of meeting places for families with children, such as family cafés across the country, where we learn about the situations that families are living in. In 2024, we have met a growing number of families who struggle to meet the basic needs of their family. For example, they do not have enough money for food and often the food served at the meeting place is the most important moment of the day,” says Tarja Satuli-Kukkonen, Head of Development at MLL.
“Red Cross workers providing food aid in different parts of Finland have noticed that more and more families with children have become their customers this year. This suggests that the number of families affected by poverty is growing,” says Salla-Reetta Juuma, Social Well-being Specialist at the Finnish Red Cross.
From the beginning of 2024, cuts have been made, for example, to social assistance, unemployment benefit and general housing allowance, which have hit low-income families particularly hard. These cuts have exacerbated poverty, and according to the calculations of the Finnish Federation for Social Affairs and Health (SOSTE), the number of low-income people will increase by 68,000 this year, including 16,700 under the age of 18.
Urgent need for food gift vouchers
The aim of the Good Holiday Spirit campaign is to distribute 18,000 food gift vouchers worth €70 to low-income families with children. The vouchers will not solve the families’ financial problems, but they will bring some holiday joy to children and their parents in a tight economic situation.
At the same time, the campaign brings the issue of family poverty into public debate and challenges decision-makers to address the problem. Poverty is not just a financial issue, but it also reduces children’s well-being and causes concern for both parents and children.
For donors, taking part in the Good Holiday Spirit collection is a concrete way to show that they care during the holidays.
About the collection
The Good Holiday Spirit collection is organised for the 28th time this year. The collection is organised by the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare and the Finnish Red Cross in partnership with Yle. The Good Holiday Spirit collection has been organised since 1997. Over the years, the proceeds have been used to distribute more than 400,000 gift vouchers.
As its name implies, the Good Holiday Spirit gift voucher is a gift and you cannot apply for it. The vouchers are given to families living in Finland who are struggling due to unemployment, illness, excessive debt, low income or some other crisis.
The local associations of MLL and the branches of the Red Cross work together with local church social workers, social services, child health clinics and school health care, among others, to find suitable families. The purpose of this cooperation is to find the families who need help the most.
