Finland

Finland's national Youth Act (2017) sets the goal of promoting social inclusion of young people and providing them with opportunities to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to become active members of society. Its main purpose is to establish the responsibilities of central and local government and state funding. It assigns the responsibility of overall administration, coordination and development of national youth policy to the Ministry of Education and Culture. At the same time, under the act, local municipalities are also obligated to implement their own youth policy. Furthermore, the act mandates that the government adopt a National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme every four years to provide more detailed objectives for youth policy. Further provisions of the duties of regional authorities are defined in the Government Decree on Youth Work and Policy (2017).

The Youth Division within the Department for Youth and Sport Policy of the Ministry of Education and Culture is primarily responsible for the development of youth work and youth policy. Its goal is to "support young people in growing up and gaining independence, promote their active citizenship and social empowerment, and improve the environment in which they grow up and their living conditions." One of the main functions of the ministry is to establish a National Youth Work and Policy Programme every four years, which defines youth policy objectives and measures for attaining them.

The Youth Act (2017) establishes the State Youth Council, which operates under the Ministry of Education and Culture. The State Youth Council informs the Ministry of Education and Culture on issues to be addressed in the National Youth Work and Policy Programme, introduces initiatives and proposals to develop youth policy, and generates data on youth. Additionally, the Local Government Act (2015) mandates that municipalities must establish their own youth council. Both the Youth Act (2017) and Local Government Act (2015) stipulate that youth councils must include the participation of youth themselves.

The Finnish government takes an active role in defining, legislating, and supporting youth work. Youth work is seen as a basic and statutory service. In the Youth Act (2017), youth work is defined as "the efforts to support the growth, independence and social inclusion of young people in society." According to the act, local governments carry the responsibility of facilitating and providing youth work services. The Ministry of Education and Culture subsidizes youth work that is carried out by the municipalities and NGOs. The Youth Act also establishes National Youth Work Centres of Expertise, which are entities that bring together different experts and services to develop expertise on youth related issues and provide training for youth work actors. The Ministry of Education utilizes the Centres of Expertise as an instrument to develop youth work.

The Ministry of Education and Culture is responsible for subsidizing youth work and activities. According to the Ministry of Education and Culture, these funds come from the proceeds of gaming activities and budget funding, of which almost 30% is dedicated to activities of the youth sector. The budget items for the youth sector in 2023 were: promotion of youth work (EUR 41.5 million/USD 44.4 million), youth workshop activities and youth outreach work (EUR 22.4 million/USD 23.9 million), and certain grants and central government transfers to municipalities for youth services (EUR 13.7 million/USD 14.6 million).