Familia Urges Policy Shift to Boost Employment of Immigrant Mothers.

Helsinki, July 18, 2025 – In its expert opinion to the Parliamentary Committee on Working Life and Equality, Familia emphasizes the need to remove systemic barriers that prevent immigrant mothers from entering the workforce.

Contrary to public perception, most immigrant mothers want to work. The problem lies not in motivation, but in finding employment. Familia stresses that immigrant mothers, like Finnish-born mothers, often stay home to care for their children due to a lack of job opportunities—not lack of interest.

Familia highlights major obstacles: recruitment discrimination, overly high Finnish language requirements, and slow or costly qualification recognition processes. These barriers are especially challenging in female-dominated fields like healthcare and education.

The organization calls for lower, more realistic language expectations and encourages the use of English in the workplace, in line with OECD recommendations. It also proposes incentives for employers to support language learning at work, including wage subsidy-style language support.

Public sector employers should lead by example by hiring immigrants still learning Finnish. Improvements to the qualification recognition system are also needed—especially making additional studies available in English and resourcing relevant authorities like Valvira.

Familia underlines that racism and discrimination continue to block access to employment. Tackling these head-on is crucial for real progress.

The group also recommends better support for children’s multilingual development in early education, so immigrant mothers don’t feel pressured to stay home longer to preserve their children’s language and culture.

Based on its 2022 survey, Familia reiterates key measures: better integration training, accessible continuing education, and fairer language requirements in public sector jobs.

“The focus must shift from blaming immigrant mothers to enabling employers and systems to become more inclusive,” Familia concludes.