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Globalization with its many side-effects on working life is seen to pose accentuated risks especially for women and low skilled workers – resulting in increasing polarization of job quality. In contrast to "universal theories", institutional theories claim changes in work life might vary according to the institutional and cultural frameworks which mediate the global pressures of change. This study analyses job quality trends in Finland at the intersection of class and gender. The results, based on the Finnish Quality of Work Life survey (1977–2013), find no clear evidence of polarization. In line with the institutional theory's prediction of a low risk of polarization in coordinated and inclusive Nordic countries, improvements have occurred for blue-collar workers in terms of autonomy and opportunities for development at work, reducing the gap between social classes. Furthermore, the negative sides of work life, such as insecurity and time pressures have become common experiences regardless of social class. The 'welfare state paradox' hypothesis on the comparative disadvantage of women in higher positions in the labour market does not gain support in 2013: the upper-white collar women have attained roughly similar levels of job quality to their male counterparts.

We investigated the role of teenage everyday social ties in educational outcomes by examining the association between teenage time use and educational attainment in adulthood. The sample consisted of young people aged 10–18 from the 1979 Finnish Time Use Survey, and the same respondents' educational attainment later in life recorded from population register data at the year of 40th birthday (n = 366 men and 393 women). We assessed the associations of time spent with the parents, on studying, leisure activities, as well as social connectedness with friends and participation in extracurricular activities, with educational outcomes. Our findings indicated that time spent with the father is positively associated with the likelihood of completing tertiary education for both daughters and sons. In particular, time spent with lower-education fathers was associated with teenagers' future tertiary education. However, intense friendships and participation in extracurricular activities were not associated with academic achievement later in life. The findings suggest that educational attainment is partly explained by teenage time spent with the family. Less-educated fathers can enhance the attainment of higher education of their children by spending more time with their teenage children.

This chapter explores the role digital skills, interest in technology, and social support have in home care workers' use of digital applications at work. The empirical research is based on the 2019 University of Jyväskylä survey study on eldercare work (N = 6,903), drawn from the members of four majors trade unions in Finland. In this chapter, a sub-sample of home care workers (n = 1,398) is used in the analyses. Structural equation models are used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of available technology support, digital skills, and interest in technology on the actual use of various digital applications at work. According to the results, technology support has no direct effect on the use of digital applications. However, technology support seems to increase interest in technology and improve digital skills, which in turn promotes the use of digital applications. The availability of technology support appears as a crucial facilitator for home care workers' digital agency at work.

The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in older adults' mobile phone use from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. The media displacement and digital divide approaches served as the theoretical frameworks of the study. The data were drawn from the 2018 and 2020 waves of the Aging + Communication + Technology cross-national longitudinal panel study. The sample consisted of older Internet users, aged 62 to 96 (in 2018), from Austria, Canada, Finland, Israel, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain, who participated in both waves (N = 4,398). Latent class analysis and latent transition analysis with multinomial regression models were the main methods applied to the data. With regard to the findings, three mobile phone function use profiles—Narrow Use, Medium Use, and Broad Use—were identified from the data. Lower age, being married, higher income, and place of residence (in 2018) predicted belonging to the three profiles, while country differences in the prevalence of the profiles were substantial. Between 2018 and 2020, transition from one profile to another was relatively rare but typically toward the "Broad Use" category. Profile transitions were most common in Romania, while stability was highest in Finland, Israel, and Canada. In addition, gender, age, marital status, and place of residence predicted the likelihood of changing from one profile to another between 2018 and 2020. The results suggest that older adults' mobile phone function use is relatively stable over a two-year time span. While new mobile phone functions are adopted, they seem to augment the spectrum of mobile usage rather than displace older similar functionalities. In addition, demographic, socioeconomic, and country-level digital divides, although slightly modified over time, remain significant among older adults.

PurposeIn this study, the authors examine whether social capital embedded in individuals' social networks is connected to employees' long-term income development in Finland.Design/methodology/approachAnalyses are based on 25–35-year-old employees from the Finnish Living Conditions Survey of 1994 combined with register data on earned incomes from 1995 to 2016. The authors used questions addressing the frequency of meeting parents or siblings, spending free time with co-workers and participation in associational, civic or other societal activities as measures of the extent of network capital. Ordered logistic model was used to examine whether the size and composition of social networks differ by gender and socio-economic status. Linear growth curve models were employed to estimate the effect of social capital on long-term income development.FindingsResults indicate minor differences in network composition according to gender, but large differences between socio-economic groups. The authors found that income development was faster for those who participated in civic activities occasionally or who met their relatives or co-workers on a monthly basis, that is, for the "middle group".Research limitations/implicationsResults are generalizable only to Finnish or Nordic welfare state context. The authors' measures of social capital come from cross-sectional survey. Thus, the authors are not able to address the stability or accumulation of social capital during life course. This restriction will probably cause the authors' analysis to underestimate the true effect of social capital on earned incomes.Practical implicationsModerate-level investments to network capital seem to be the most beneficial with regard to the long-term income development.Social implicationsThe study results give support to the idea that social capital can be transformed into economic capital. The results also imply that in economic terms it is important to balance diverse forms of social capital. At the policy level, a special emphasis should be directed to employees with low-socio-economic position. These people are especially vulnerable as their low level of income is combined with network composition that hinders their further income development.Originality/valueThe combined survey and register data give unique insight on how the social capital embedded in individuals' social networks is connected with long-term income development.

The organization of times and places of work are key elements of working conditions, and define employees' possibilities for balancing work and other life spheres. This study analyses several aspects of temporal and spatial flexibility, and their associations with employees' work-life balance. This study separates four dimensions of temporal flexibility and one indicator of spatial flexibility. The dimensions of temporal flexibility are the number of hours worked, when the hours are worked, work-time intensity, and the degree of working-time autonomy. The workplace flexibility indicator is an index of work locations. Work-life balance is analysed with work-hour fit. The analyses were based on the fifth wave of the European Working Conditions Survey collected in 2010. We used data from 25 Member States of the European Union ( n = 25,417). Based on the hierarchical cluster analysis, this study found various types of flexibility regimes in Europe. Country clusters show a clear effect on perceived work-life balance even after controlling for flexibility measurements at the individual level. This study contributes to the existing research in analysing several dimensions of temporal and spatial flexibility at the same time, as well as their associations to work-life balance. ; peerReviewed

The issue of the quality of work-life has risen in popularity due to concerns about the economic and social sustainability of European societies. Throughout the continent, global competition, technological change and the intensification of work are common developments which are seen to affect the well-being of the workforce. Nevertheless, European countries differ substantially in terms of job quality. According to earlier research, employees in Sweden and Denmark (and to lesser extent in Finland) report a higher quality of work tasks than elsewhere in Europe. The aim of this paper was to investigate, in a cross-national context using multivariate techniques, whether job quality in Finland really is divergent from that of other Nordic countries and rest of the Europe. Empirical analyses were based on the fourth wave of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) collected in 2005. In this study we used data from the 25 Member States of the European Union and Norway (n=21,196 interviews). Our results support earlier findings that Finland lags behind other Nordic countries in terms of work discretion and the perceptions of being well paid. Instead, Finnish employees were less worried about health issues. When comparing Finland to Scandinavia, we did not find major differences in the amount of highly skilled jobs, insecurity nor the quantity of jobs requiring great effort. We also examined the associations of the dimensions of job quality to job satisfaction. The results indicated that the subjective aspects of job quality were more important determinants of job satisfaction, and that there were only modest differences in the determinants of job satisfaction between country clusters.

The issue of the quality of work-life has risen in popularity due to concerns about the economic and social sustainability of European societies. Throughout the continent, global competition, technological change and the intensification of work are common developments which are seen to affect the well-being of the workforce. Nevertheless, European countries differ substantially in terms of job quality. According to earlier research, employees in Sweden and Denmark (and to lesser extent in Finland) report a higher quality of work tasks than elsewhere in Europe. The aim of this paper was to investigate, in a cross-national context using multivariate techniques, whether job quality in Finland really is divergent from that of other Nordic countries and rest of the Europe. Empirical analyses were based on the fourth wave of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) collected in 2005. In this study we used data from the 25 Member States of the European Union and Norway (n=21,196 interviews). Our results support earlier findings that Finland lags behind other Nordic countries in terms of work discretion and the perceptions of being well paid. Instead, Finnish employees were less worried about health issues. When comparing Finland to Scandinavia, we did not find major differences in the amount of highly skilled jobs, insecurity nor the quantity of jobs requiring great effort. We also examined the associations of the dimensions of job quality to job satisfaction. The results indicated that the subjective aspects of job quality were more important determinants of job satisfaction, and that there were only modest differences in the determinants of job satisfaction between country clusters.

The issue of the quality of work-life has risen in popularity due to concerns about the economic and social sustainability of European societies. Throughout the continent, global competition, technological change and the intensification of work are common developments which are seen to a ect the well-being of the workforce. Nevertheless, European countries di er substantially in terms of job quality. According to earlier research, employees in Sweden and Denmark (and to lesser extent in Finland) report a higher quality of work tasks than elsewhere in Europe. The aim of this paper was to investigate, in a cross-national context using multivariate techniques, whether job quality in Finland really is divergent from that of other Nordic countries and rest of the Europe. Empirical analyses were based on the fourth wave of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) collected in 2005. In this study we used data from the 25 Member States of the European Union and Norway (n=21,196 interviews). Our results support earlier findings that Finland lags behind other Nordic countries in terms of work discretion and the perceptions of being well paid. Instead, Finnish employees were less worried about health issues. When comparing Finland to Scandinavia, we did not find major di erences in the amount of highly skilled jobs, insecurity nor the quantity of jobs requiring great e ort. We also examined the associations of the dimensions of job quality to job satisfaction. The results indicated that the subjective aspects of job quality were more important determinants of job satisfaction, and that there were only modest di erences in the determinants of job satisfaction between country clusters. ; peerReviewed

This study used 2009–2015 time-diary data to examine gender differences in daily activities among children and adolescents aged 10–17 in Finland, Spain and the UK ( N = 3517). In all three countries, boys were significantly more involved in screen-based activities and exercising and girls in domestic work, non-screen educational activities and personal care. Gender differences in socializing time were only significant in the UK, with girls socializing more than boys. Gender gaps within countries were largest in domestic work (UK: 60%; Finland: 58%; Spain: 48%) and exercising (UK: 57%; Finland: 36%; Spain: 27%), followed by educational time (UK: 35%; Finland: 34%; Spain: 18%) and screen-based activities (UK: 31%; Finland: 16%; Spain: 16%), and lower in personal care (UK: 27%; Finland: 21%; Spain: 14%) and socializing (UK; 21%; Finland: 13%; Spain: 6%). Two-way country-gender interactions in children's activities were statistically significant when comparing Spain and the UK on screen-based activities, socializing, and personal care, with larger gender gaps in the UK than in Spain. By contrast, gender differences in child time use between Finland and either Spain or UK were not statistically significant. The complex role of national contexts and life-course stages in shaping gendered time-use patterns is discussed.

AbstractObjectiveThis study examined the differences in child and adolescent time use across the following three countries with distinct policy and cultural regimes: Finland, Spain, and the United Kingdom.BackgroundStudying children's time use cross‐nationally is urgent to better understand how societal contexts influence children's daily lives in ways that affect their future lifestyles, development, and identity formation. Yet previous studies have largely omitted this important question.MethodThe study used 2009 to 015 time‐diary data on children aged 10 to 17 from Finland, Spain, and the United Kingdom (N= 3,491). Multivariate linear regression models examined (a) between‐country and (b) within‐country variations.ResultsFinnish children spent 153 daily minutes less with parents, 128 more with "others" and 54 daily minutes more alone when compared with Spanish children. The United Kingdom fell between Finland and Spain in children's time allocated with parents and time with "others." In family‐oriented Spain, children spent more time eating; in individualistic Finland and United Kingdom, child screen‐based time was highest. Parental education generally led to more time in educational activities, but with minor country variations. Maternal employment was generally not associated with child time use, except in Spain, where it led to less parent–child time.ConclusionThe strong cross‐national differences in child and adolescent time use seem only partly driven by sociostructural factors. Cross‐cultural variations in family values and parenting ideologies seem to critically influence children's daily activities.