7.2 out of 10
Legal capacity can be partially removed, but people with intellectual disabilities are allowed to vote and stand for elections.
Most adults with intellectual disabilities live in smaller group homes.
Some adults with intellectual disabilities live with their family, some live in their own place.
Most children with intellectual disabilities go to mainstream schools, some of them still go to special schools.
Very few people with intellectual disabilities have a job on the open labour market. They do not risk to lose their disability benefits when they earn their own salary.
People with intellectual disabilities have access to general healthcare.
People with intellectual disabilities are represented within the national disability organisation. Inclusion Finland receives government funding for their advocacy work.
Finland European average
We were quite critical in rating Finland. We think that we should do much better, even though many things are good here.
Most children with intellectual disabilities are in the mainstream education, but we don't have any official statistics on them. In the mainstream education the problem is that they don't get the support they need.
| Mainstream education | 6,000 |
|---|---|
| Special education | 3,400 |
| No education | 0 |
| Larger institutions | 405 |
| Smaller institutions | 12,000 |
| Small care homes | * |
| Psychiatric hospitals | 0 |
Most adults with intellectual disabilities in Finland live in smaller group homes (around 10 people living there).
These are the reported or estimated numbers of the country. In most cases, in reality, the numbers will be higher as the data is underreported or missing entirely.
6.5 out of 10
Legal capacity can be partially removed, but people with intellectual disabilities are allowed to vote and stand for elections. Voting is made accessible for people with intellectual disabilities but there are many practical obstacles.
Few adults with intellectual disabilities live in small care institutions, a small number live in large institutions. There is a national plan to close institutions and provide support in community, but it is slow.
A small number of adults with intellectual disabilities live with their family or in their own place. There is support for families. When parents can no longer take care of their child, they usually move to a group home. Disability benefits go to the individual with an intellectual disability or the family.
Most children with intellectual disabilities go to mainstream schools, few of them still go to special schools. There is no national strategy towards inclusive education.
A small number of people with intellectual disabilities have a job on the open labour market, few work in protected employment, they do not risk losing their disability benefits when they have a paid job, but it can affect their pension. ‘Protected employment’ does not pay minimum wage.
People with intellectual disabilities have access to general healthcare. Reproductive health decisions are meant to be made by the individual, but families and professionals have a lot of influence. People cannot be forcibly sterilised.
People with intellectual disabilities are represented within the national cross-disability organisation. There is no member of the board with intellectual disability. Inclusion Finland receives government funding for advocacy work.
Finland European average
In mainstream education, many children with intellectual disabilities don't get the support they would need. They often study in smaller groups. The school system is not inclusive even though majority of the children with intellectual disabilities study in the mainstream education.
Person working while getting a full disability pension can earn a maximum of 977 €/month (2024). If the earnings exceed the earnings limit, the pension payments are suspended for at least three months and no more than two years.
| Mainstream education | 6,000 |
|---|---|
| Special education | 3,400 |
| No education | 0 |
| Larger institutions | 372 |
| Smaller institutions | 10,216 |
| Small care homes | * |
| Psychiatric hospitals | * |
| Living with family | 8,000 |
| In foster care | * |
| Living in own home | 2,000 |
| Homeless | * |
These are the reported or estimated numbers of the country. In most cases, in reality, the numbers will be higher as the data is underreported or missing entirely.
6.2 out of 10
Legal capacity can be partially removed, but people with intellectual disabilities are allowed to vote and stand for elections. Voting is made accessible for people with intellectual disabilities but there are many practical obstacles.
Some adults with intellectual disabilities live in smaller institutions. Very few live in large institutions.
Some people with intellectual disabilities live with their family, very few live in their own place. There is support for families. Disability benefits go to the person with an intellectual disability.
Many children with intellectual disabilities go to mainstream schools. Some go to special schools. There is no national strategy towards inclusive education.
Very few people with intellectual disabilities have a job on the open labour market. Some work in ‘protected employment’ and some attend daycare. People risk losing their disability benefits when they have a paid job. ‘Protected employment’ does not pay minimum wage.
People with intellectual disabilities have access to general healthcare but there are barriers. Reproductive health decisions are to be made by the individual, but families and professionals have a lot of influence. People with intellectual disabilities cannot be forcibly sterilised.
People with intellectual disabilities are represented in the national cross-disability organisation, but there is no person with an intellectual disability on the board/council. Inclusion Finland receives government funding for advocacy work, but it is shrinking.
Finland European average
The right to self-determination is not always respected, for example in issues related to medication. Periodic health examinations are not implemented equally. Access to various types of care is difficult—for instance, it is hard to find psychotherapists who are specialized in working with people with intellectual disabilities. Access to rehabilitation has worsened due to budget cuts.
Funding for organizations has already been reduced and will be cut further, which makes advocacy and rights monitoring more difficult.
We think Finland should do much better. The situation has not improved since 2024 — in fact, values have hardened, and cuts and savings have further weakened inclusion, among other things.
| Mainstream education | 6,000 |
|---|---|
| Special education | 3,288 |
| No education | * |
| Larger institutions | 341 |
| Smaller institutions | 11,942 |
| Small care homes | * |
| Psychiatric hospitals | * |
These are the reported or estimated numbers of the country. In most cases, in reality, the numbers will be higher as the data is underreported or missing entirely.