Introduction

In Finland, for the last 10 to 15 years, there has been increasing interest and investment in so-called family work in the field of child welfare. In spite of the extensive family policy in Finland and in the other Nordic countries providing universal financial support and social and health services for parents and children (for example, Ellingsæter and Leira, 2006; Eydal and Kröger, this volume), there is a growing concern that universal family policy measures are not enough. It is emphasised that families need more specific and targeted support in parenting and taking care of their children.

Related to the deep economic recession in Finland in the early 1990s, there has been growing concern regarding the increase in and more complex problems of families and children. Most often mentioned concerns are connected to: neglect in care and upbringing of children; increasing numbers of children taken into care; high and long-term unemployment and its consequences for children; increasing rates of poverty among children and families with young children; violence, alcohol, drug and mental health problems in families. Furthermore, there have been discussions concerning the hardening of, and more demanding conditions where parents are taking care of their children in today's society – for example, problems in reconciliation of work and family life, loosening social networks, and cutbacks in financial support and services for families (for example, Salmi et al, 1996; Bardy et al, 2001; Forssén, 2006; also Chapter Four by Forsberg and Ritala-Koskinen).

Along with the increasing concern about coping of families, new forms of services, methods of working with families and even a new professional group called family workers have emerged in the fields of child welfare, health care and education. Under the name of family support, prevention, early intervention and early support (Heinämäki, 2005; Uusimäki, 2005), different forms of family work have become very popular in Finland in the last 10 to 15 years. Family work includes a variety of activities, such as ‘family cafes’, mutual support groups, family centres and professional help at home, which target either all families or more specific groups of children and parents. Both public organisations and NGOs in the field of child welfare, but also in health care and education, have developed a variety of activities under the title of family work, often in specific short-term projects, but increasingly as an integral part of municipal child welfare services.