If there ever existed a near-perfect republic, what would it be like?
Would its economy be one of the most competitive in the world? Would technological innovation be king within its borders? Would its education system be at the top of the world class? Would it be one of the least corrupt countries around?
Some studies that have appeared in recent years have put Finland at the top end of all these categories. But behind Finland’s successes in many fields and noteworthy international recognition, there’s one area where we haven’t excelled: integrating foreigners to the Finnish way of life.
When I moved to in the in the end of 1978, the foreign community numbered a mere 10-12.000 people. A great number of these “foreigners” were Finns who had acquired Swedish citizenship. But in the early 1990s matters started to change, especially in 1995, when Finland became a European Union (EU) member.
Most of the country’s 113,852 foreigners that live here today moved to this country during the past decade. The biggest national groups are Russians (24,621) followed by Estonians (15,459), Swedes (8,196) and Somalis (4,704).
Despite their growing numbers, foreigners continue to be a difficult issue for some Finns, who don’t see outsiders as a positive impact on society like in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries. They believe — erroneously — that most outsiders that move to Finland want to take advantage of the generous welfare-state system.
But if Finland is to survive and rejuvenate its population in the new century, it’ll be obliged to increase the size of its foreign population. Without them the country’s population will continue to age rapidly. Statistics Finland forecasts by 2010 over-65-year-olds will account for 17% of the population and by 2040 it’ll grow to 27%.
The biggest age group today is the post-war baby boomers (55-59 years) numbering 416,888 people.
Possibly one of the most challenging tasks that this country faces in the new century will be the conversion from a near-homogenous to a multicultural society.The Finland we know today will for certain be a very different place in the future.
Foreign unemployment
While there are many ways to measure integration of foreigners in a society, probably one of the best barometers is unemployment. Without a job it’s virtually impossible for anyone to build a future never mind be an active member of society.
The jobless rate among foreigners in Finland is one of the highest in the European Union. In September it stood at a staggering 25% versus 28% a year ago, according to the most recent ministry of labour statistics. That compares with 7% during the same month for the whole population.
Olli Sorainan, a ministry of labour senior advisor, said the foreign unemployment range in the EU is, depending on the country, between 10% and 20%.
The highest jobless rate in Finland was reported among Afghanis (74%), Iraqis (73%), Somalis (62%), Iranians (61%), Serbians and Montenegroans (52%) and Vietnamese (44%). The national groups with the lowest unemployment were the Chinese, Germans, US citizens, Norwegians, with 9%.
Finland’s high foreign unemployment rate is attributable to many factors. Sorainen blamed the high jobless figure mainly on two matters: many foreigners that come to aren’t job-seekers but are refugees or come for humanitarian reasons; and because Finns aren’t yet used to foreigners.
Certainly we can’t expect that foreigners that move to Finland with rudimentary language and labor skills to be instantly hired by Nokia as well-paid executives. Even so, it sounds incredulous that “attitude” continues to be one factor contributing to high unemployment among foreigners.
A recent report published by Statistics Finland and the Trade Register suggests that matters may be improving since the amount of immigrant-owned enterprises has doubled from 2001 to about 5,600 companies. Another encouraging fact is that the proportion of entrepreneurs out of total foreign job holders is 16% compared with 10% for the Finnish population.
The report shows that the majority of foreigners that establish businesses in Finland are in the commerce and restaurant sector (pizzeria and kebab establishments), with around 11% being “information-intensive” enterprises.
Even if the Statistics Finland and Trade Register report is proof that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking in the foreign community, it sheds light as well on how difficult it still is for some non-Finns to get a job. Establishing a business appears to be one of the most effective ways of escaping unemployment.
Some policy-makers correctly point out that more support and funding should be earmarked for encouraging foreigners to establish businesses. However, this is not a new government remedy for lowering unemployment.
Having lived in a number of countries and grown up in Los Angeles, a true “melting pot” (note the 70s term) of cultures, one matter is certain about immigrants: they don’t lack courage and aren’t afraid of starting life from scratch. The need to survive in a new country forces some to become very innovative, helping them to attain economic and even academic goals that they never imagined possible in their former homes.
Finland must strive as a nation to defend and strengthen a society founded on social justice and opportunities for all. In the task, people from other cultures and national backgrounds should form part of this noble project called Finland.
Maintaining and accepting such high unemployment rates as present is not only shameful for a welfare state like ours, it’s squandering a valuable resource at a high cost to all concerned.
