Statement on the Government Report on the General Government Fiscal Plan for 2025–2028 (VNS 2/2024 vp.) (TAS/304/2024, issued on 13 May 2024)
The Ombudsman for Equality was heard by the Parliament of Finland’s Employment and Equality Committee on 15 May 2024 in relation to the Government Report on the General Government Fiscal Plan for 2025–2028.
Gender impact must be assessed as part of a general government fiscal plan
The Ombudsman for Equality reminds that the obligation to promote equality in a purposeful and planned manner also applies to the Government and legislators. The Ombudsman for Equality notes it is not clear whether the gender impacts of allocating income and expenses have been considered in the General Government Fiscal Plan.
The medium-term economic policy outlines for central government finances, which significantly steer the operations of the society, is certain to have effects on gender equality. Assessing gender impact is an important tool for promoting gender equality in decision making. General government fiscal plans and other economic policy decisions are often considered gender-neutral, but studies have shown that they have different effects on different groups of women and men.
A gender impact assessment of the measures in the General Government Fiscal Plan would provide information on whether the proposed measures would increase or decrease gender equality. The Ombudsman for Equality notes that assessing gender impact is particularly necessary when economic policy outlines are being drafted and decisions beyond the budgetary period are made. The gender impact assessment should also consider the differences between men and women related to age, health, disabilities, and financial status. The Employment and Equality Committee highlighted this need in its statement on the General Government Fiscal Plan for 2022–2025 (8/2021 vp), for example. In its statement 2/2023 vp on the state budget for 2024, the Committee also referred to the significant structural reforms planned to be carried out during this government term, and highlighted the importance of gender impact assessment in relation to the reforms.
The Ombudsman for Equality stresses that when assessing the impact of societal changes, the combined effects of the proposals should be assessed more broadly and extensively than currently. For example, in the statements submitted by the Ombudsman for Equality to the Employment and Equality Committee in autumn 2023, the Ombudsman noted that many of the changes proposed by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government to labour legislation and social security have a particularly harmful effect on the same groups of people, such as single parents. In the Ombudsman for Equality’s view, the General Government Fiscal Plan and the cumulative effects of the related government proposals should be assessed to examine how they will affect gender equality. If the proposals are found to decrease gender equality, it is clear that corrective measures are required to mitigate the detrimental effects.
Employment can be promoted with coordination of family and work and combatting discrimination based on pregnancy or family leave
According to Orpo’s Government Programme, more effective measures to combat discrimination based on pregnancy or family leave will be introduced. The Ombudsman for Equality appreciates that the Government has set a tripartite working group to support this objective of the Government Programme.
In the Ombudsman for Equality’s view, the most effective way to prevent discrimination based on pregnancy and family is to developed legislation in order to strengthen the prohibition of discrimination of fixed-term employees. Clear provisions should be added to employment contract and equality legislation that expressly prohibit not renewing a fixed-term employment contract because of pregnancy or family leave and limiting a fixed-term employment contract to the start date of family leave when a fixed-term contract is renewed.
Orpo’s Government Programme and the General Government Fiscal Plan include objectives on removing barriers to employment. As one such measure the Government Programme mentions is amending the Employment Contracts Act so that employment contracts could be made with a fixed-term of one year without any grounds. In the Ombudsman for Equality’s view, enabling the use of fixed-term contracts without grounds would increase discrimination based on pregnancy and family leave from the current level. It would therefore be in conflict with the abovementioned Government Programme objective of preventing discrimination based on pregnancy and family leave.
Protection of temporary agency workers against discrimination based on pregnancy and family leave must also be improved.
The Ombudsman for Equality considers the Government Programme entries on paying attention to the barriers to employment faced by parents of families with children important. The Ombudsman for Equality has proposed that the availability of day care for the children of those working in shifts should be ensured so that the lack of such shift day care does not become a barrier to employment.
Details of the General Government Fiscal Plan
The General Government Fiscal Plan includes a mention that certain plastic surgeries and sterilisation would be removed from the service selection of public specialised healthcare. These plastic surgeries include breast reconstruction after breast cancer surgery. They may also be related to the treatment of persons with gender dysphoria, in which case the sex characteristics are modified by surgical means to suit the gender identity of the person.
In the Ombudsman for Equality’s view, the plastic surgeries carried out in public healthcare are always based on a careful consideration and are deemed necessary for the patients. The Ombudsman for Equality does not consider it possible to exclude such procedures from the public healthcare service selection.
The Plan also states that work for a larger reform of the sickness allowance system would be started during the spending limits period. For this part, the Ombudsman for Equality views it important that the fact that pregnancy and family leaves affect the access to income and employment of women in particular are taken into account better than currently in the reform work.
Efficient law enforcement and promotion of equality require sufficient resources
The Office of the Ombudsman for Equality has been contacted in increasing amounts in the past years. The number of contacts has increased around 42% since 2020. In 2023, the Office of the Ombudsman for Equality was contacted a total 1,210 times in writing and orally.
In total, 11 officials work at the Office of the Ombudsman for Equality. The current human resources are insufficient for carrying out the statutory duties of the Office of the Ombudsman for Equality. The gap between the official duties and resources has only grown wider now that the volume of contacts has increased.
The Employment and Equality Committee has often commented on the insufficient resources of the Office of the Ombudsman for Equality. For example, in its statement on the 2023 budget proposal (TyVL 15/2022 vp), the committee stated that for the credibility and effectiveness of non-discrimination legislation it is necessary that the supervisory authorities have access to the resources they need for carrying out their duties. The Committee deemed it necessary that the Office of the Non-discrimination Ombudsman and the Office of the Ombudsman for Equality are provided with the necessary resources for carrying out their duties.
The government statement issued in autumn 2023 on promoting equality, gender equality and non-discrimination in Finnish society also recognized the importance of equality work and supervision of equality matters.
15.05.2024
