The Public, the Private and the Changing Expectations for Everyday Welfare Services: The Case of Finnish Parents Seeking Private Health Care for their Children

This article sheds light on a policy area where the notion of the active citizen has gained prominence as part of the transformation of the welfare state: purchasing private health services and private health insurance for children in Finland. Although the country’s universal health care system offe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social policy and society : a journal of the Social Policy Association 2021-04, Vol.20 (2), p.232-246
Main Authors: Sointu, Liina, Lehtonen, Turo-Kimmo, Häikiö, Liisa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Children
Children & youth
Childrens health
Costs
Expectations
Families & family life
Health care industry
Health care policy
Health disparities
Health insurance
Health services
Help seeking behavior
Insurance policies
Middle class
National health insurance
Parents & parenting
Perceptions
Primary care
Private medical care
Private sector
Public health
Quality of care
Transformation
Welfare services
Welfare state
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article sheds light on a policy area where the notion of the active citizen has gained prominence as part of the transformation of the welfare state: purchasing private health services and private health insurance for children in Finland. Although the country’s universal health care system offers free primary health care for children, 40 per cent of children now have private insurance. Drawing on interviews with parents who seek private solutions, we examine what they perceive to be good health care. Our analysis reveals that parents are looking for certain practices – in Finland available only in the private sector – that they see as signs of good care. The unavailability of these practices in public health care calls into question the access, quality and efficiency of the public system. Based on these findings, we discuss the possible consequences of the disparity between parents’ expectations and the universal health care system.
ISSN:1474-7464
1475-3073
DOI:10.1017/S1474746420000287