Labour Market Outcomes for Immigrant Women in Finland
The Issue
Labour market outcomes for certain groups in Finland — particularly immigrant women and the children of immigrants — remain weak by international standards.
Foreign-born women experience lower employment rates, longer periods outside the workforce, and a higher concentration in low-paid or precarious jobs compared to native-born women. The interaction of labour market barriers, limited access to benefits, and social marginalization creates a cycle that is difficult to break.
Immigrant women often face constrained choices, balancing low-income work, childcare responsibilities, and limited social participation. Their children are directly affected, frequently experiencing delayed integration, restricted social networks, and exposure to societal biases. Addressing these challenges requires coordinated policy interventions, community engagement, and inclusive social environments that recognize and value the contributions of immigrant families, ensuring equitable opportunities for both women and their children to thrive in Finland.
Persistent Employment Gaps and Integration Delays
Employment disparities among immigrant women in Finland have persisted for decades.
Foreign-born women tend to achieve comparable labour market integration only after approximately 15 years of residence, whereas foreign-born men reach stable employment significantly sooner. This prolonged delay represents a substantial loss of human potential, as skills erode and confidence diminishes over time.
Prolonged labour market exclusion not only limits women’s economic contributions but also affects the long-term social mobility and educational outcomes of their children (OECD, 2018; OECD, 2020).
The paths of integration can differ significantly depending on the country of origin.
Women from Estonia and Russia generally achieve stronger employment outcomes, narrowing the gap with native-born women within 5 to 10 years. In contrast, women from Somalia and Iraq face employment gaps of up to 80 percentage points even after a decade in Finland. Women from the EU, the United States, and Canada often begin with higher employment rates, yet their progress tends to stagnate over time rather than converge with native-born women’s outcomes (OECD, 2018).
Family Policies and Unintended Incentives
In contrast to immigrant women, native-born women in Finland generally maintain strong labour market attachment before and after childbirth. The female employment rate stands at approximately 74%, supported by comprehensive maternity and parental leave schemes, income-related allowances, and legal protections against dismissal (Statistics Finland; Kela, 2025). Employment rates among mothers with young children have increased steadily, reflecting strong institutional support for combining work and family life.
However, certain family policies may unintentionally disadvantage immigrant women. The Child Home Care Allowance (CHCA), for example, can create incentives for women who already face weak labour market prospects — due to discrimination or low-paid employment — to remain at home with young children.
For immigrant women, staying at home often appears to be the least risky option. While understandable, this choice can delay labour market integration and reduce children’s access to early childhood education, which is critical for language acquisition and social integration (European Commission, 2019; OECD, 2020).
Discrimination in the Workplace
Discrimination remains a central barrier for foreign-born workers in Finland, with particularly severe consequences for women.
The THL MoniSuomi study found that 42% of foreign-born adults reported experiencing discrimination within the previous year, and 75% attributed it to their origin, ethnicity, or skin colour (THL, 2014).
According to Eurobarometer data, 66% of Finnish respondents believed that skin colour or ethnic origin disadvantages job candidates — well above the EU average of 46% — and 15% expressed discomfort working alongside a Muslim colleague (European Commission, 2015).
Women from Middle Eastern and African backgrounds are especially affected. The Finnish Work and Well-being Among Persons of Foreign Origin Survey (UTH) found that 22% of respondents from these groups felt they were treated unequally at work, directly affecting their ability to secure or retain employment (Statistics Finland, 2014).
Field experiments further demonstrate that applicants with foreign-sounding names receive fewer callbacks, while foreign-born professionals report discrimination that undermines hiring outcomes, occupational matching, and long-term career progression (Valtioneuvosto, 2017).
Discrimination is particularly pronounced in the healthcare sector. Heponiemi et al. (2018) found that foreign-born physicians experience discrimination from management, colleagues, and patients and report higher turnover intentions than native-born peers.
Foreign-trained professionals also face extensive licensing and recognition requirements through Valvira, which can delay or prevent them from practicing their profession in Finland (Valvira, 2019).
For immigrant women, these institutional barriers intersect with gendered expectations, childcare responsibilities, and limited professional networks, often pushing them into part-time, low-paid, or precarious roles despite high qualifications.
Education, Skills, and Underutilization of Talent
Many immigrants arrive in Finland with substantial human capital, including formal qualifications and professional experience. Yet qualifications obtained abroad are frequently undervalued or not formally recognized, and employers may hesitate to offer roles commensurate with migrants’ skills. As a result, foreign-born women face high levels of overqualification and underemployment.
Kristelstein-Hänninen (2022) shows that even highly educated immigrant women experience long job searches — often lasting six to seven years — before securing employment aligned with their qualifications, regardless of language proficiency or additional studies.
Qualitative accounts illustrate these structural barriers. Anisa, a woman from Yemen with ten years of IT experience, was told that her Finnish language skills needed to be at a near-native level to work in her field. During integration courses, she observed that “most of us were sent to cleaning, cooking, or elderly care,” reflecting systemic issues in job placement practices.
Research by E2 for STTK and Suomen Ekonomit similarly finds that many highly educated immigrant women are steered into low-paid, low-skilled roles rather than positions aligned with their training. At least 23% of employed women with an immigrant background consider themselves overqualified for their current jobs (Larja, 2020).
Structural barriers also exist within employment services. Some interviewees reported being denied support from TE-palvelut due to legal status or because they were already employed in so-called “survival jobs,” limiting opportunities to transition into roles that match their expertise.
Mariam faced a similar experience when engaging with Finland’s TE services. She initially entered Finland as an international student to pursue a master’s degree, despite already holding a master’s qualification in biotechnology from her home country. After completing a second master’s degree in biochemistry at a Finnish university and gaining experience through assistant work within the university, she was still unable to secure a position aligned with her qualifications in the Finnish labour market. Ultimately, through personal networks rather than formal employment services, she obtained work as a dishwasher in an Asian restaurant.
Outi Suorsa (2020) notes that international graduates in Finland often value English-language career paths more highly and that those who leave Finland report greater career satisfaction, suggesting that the Finnish labour market does not fully utilize international talent.
Around 4,000 immigrants are estimated to work in private households in Finland, mainly in the Helsinki metropolitan area (HS.fi). This sector is frequently framed by employers through so-called “win-win thinking”: by hiring a housekeeper from abroad, employers claim they gain balance in their own lives while the worker gains access to Finland and employment. However, testimonies collected by Helsingin Sanomat reveal a far more unequal reality beneath this narrative.
Some workers report that they do not dare to ask for clear working hours or defined responsibilities. Fear of losing their job, residence status, or the goodwill of the employer makes it difficult for them to say no. Workers describe long working days, unclear schedules, and an unspoken “debt of gratitude” toward employers who are perceived as gatekeepers to Finnish society (HS.fi). In some cases, employers expect housekeepers to always be available — even when sick — blurring the boundary between paid work and personal obligation.
Employers openly acknowledge that migrant labour is cheaper. As one employer quoted in Helsingin Sanomat stated, “They do the work cheaper than a Finnish student” (HS.fi). This cost advantage, however, is achieved at the expense of labour protections, predictability, and dignity.
These dynamics disproportionately affect migrant women, who dominate domestic and care-related work. According to Dr. Nilay Kılınç, migrant workers are overrepresented in health and social care, administrative and support services, as well as accommodation and food services. Women, in particular, are channelled into what Kılınç describes as affective labour — work that requires emotional effort, such as caring, comforting, patience, and maintaining a positive attitude as part of the job (Kılınç).
Affective labour is not only physically demanding but emotionally exhausting. It often remains undervalued and poorly regulated, despite being essential to households and welfare systems. Migrant women performing this work face a double disadvantage: discrimination based on both gender and migrant status. As Kılınç notes, this pattern is not unique to Finland but occurs across the European Union, where migrant women experience occupational segregation and limited upward mobility (Kılınç).
This form of labour contributes to a pattern in which migrant women are systematically pushed into low-paid jobs. While such work enables others to pursue careers and family balance, the workers themselves are often denied the same stability.
Ultimately, these conditions highlight how labour market inequalities are reproduced not only through policy and institutions, but also inside private homes.
Conclusion
The evidence clearly shows that the unemployment and underemployment of immigrant women in Finland cannot be attributed to a lack of education, motivation, or effort. Instead, these issues stem from a combination of discrimination, institutional barriers to credential recognition, gendered caregiving responsibilities, and exclusionary social attitudes. These factors not only marginalize immigrant women economically but also adversely affect the life chances of their children, representing a significant missed opportunity for Finnish society. Without sustained, targeted, and inclusive interventions, Finland risks continuing to underutilize the skills of immigrant women, which ultimately costs individuals, families, and society as a whole. It is crucial to change the support provided to immigrant women. If you agree, please sign this.
#immigrant #women #empower #europe #employment
1
The Issue
Labour market outcomes for certain groups in Finland — particularly immigrant women and the children of immigrants — remain weak by international standards.
Foreign-born women experience lower employment rates, longer periods outside the workforce, and a higher concentration in low-paid or precarious jobs compared to native-born women. The interaction of labour market barriers, limited access to benefits, and social marginalization creates a cycle that is difficult to break.
Immigrant women often face constrained choices, balancing low-income work, childcare responsibilities, and limited social participation. Their children are directly affected, frequently experiencing delayed integration, restricted social networks, and exposure to societal biases. Addressing these challenges requires coordinated policy interventions, community engagement, and inclusive social environments that recognize and value the contributions of immigrant families, ensuring equitable opportunities for both women and their children to thrive in Finland.
Persistent Employment Gaps and Integration Delays
Employment disparities among immigrant women in Finland have persisted for decades.
Foreign-born women tend to achieve comparable labour market integration only after approximately 15 years of residence, whereas foreign-born men reach stable employment significantly sooner. This prolonged delay represents a substantial loss of human potential, as skills erode and confidence diminishes over time.
Prolonged labour market exclusion not only limits women’s economic contributions but also affects the long-term social mobility and educational outcomes of their children (OECD, 2018; OECD, 2020).
The paths of integration can differ significantly depending on the country of origin.
Women from Estonia and Russia generally achieve stronger employment outcomes, narrowing the gap with native-born women within 5 to 10 years. In contrast, women from Somalia and Iraq face employment gaps of up to 80 percentage points even after a decade in Finland. Women from the EU, the United States, and Canada often begin with higher employment rates, yet their progress tends to stagnate over time rather than converge with native-born women’s outcomes (OECD, 2018).
Family Policies and Unintended Incentives
In contrast to immigrant women, native-born women in Finland generally maintain strong labour market attachment before and after childbirth. The female employment rate stands at approximately 74%, supported by comprehensive maternity and parental leave schemes, income-related allowances, and legal protections against dismissal (Statistics Finland; Kela, 2025). Employment rates among mothers with young children have increased steadily, reflecting strong institutional support for combining work and family life.
However, certain family policies may unintentionally disadvantage immigrant women. The Child Home Care Allowance (CHCA), for example, can create incentives for women who already face weak labour market prospects — due to discrimination or low-paid employment — to remain at home with young children.
For immigrant women, staying at home often appears to be the least risky option. While understandable, this choice can delay labour market integration and reduce children’s access to early childhood education, which is critical for language acquisition and social integration (European Commission, 2019; OECD, 2020).
Discrimination in the Workplace
Discrimination remains a central barrier for foreign-born workers in Finland, with particularly severe consequences for women.
The THL MoniSuomi study found that 42% of foreign-born adults reported experiencing discrimination within the previous year, and 75% attributed it to their origin, ethnicity, or skin colour (THL, 2014).
According to Eurobarometer data, 66% of Finnish respondents believed that skin colour or ethnic origin disadvantages job candidates — well above the EU average of 46% — and 15% expressed discomfort working alongside a Muslim colleague (European Commission, 2015).
Women from Middle Eastern and African backgrounds are especially affected. The Finnish Work and Well-being Among Persons of Foreign Origin Survey (UTH) found that 22% of respondents from these groups felt they were treated unequally at work, directly affecting their ability to secure or retain employment (Statistics Finland, 2014).
Field experiments further demonstrate that applicants with foreign-sounding names receive fewer callbacks, while foreign-born professionals report discrimination that undermines hiring outcomes, occupational matching, and long-term career progression (Valtioneuvosto, 2017).
Discrimination is particularly pronounced in the healthcare sector. Heponiemi et al. (2018) found that foreign-born physicians experience discrimination from management, colleagues, and patients and report higher turnover intentions than native-born peers.
Foreign-trained professionals also face extensive licensing and recognition requirements through Valvira, which can delay or prevent them from practicing their profession in Finland (Valvira, 2019).
For immigrant women, these institutional barriers intersect with gendered expectations, childcare responsibilities, and limited professional networks, often pushing them into part-time, low-paid, or precarious roles despite high qualifications.
Education, Skills, and Underutilization of Talent
Many immigrants arrive in Finland with substantial human capital, including formal qualifications and professional experience. Yet qualifications obtained abroad are frequently undervalued or not formally recognized, and employers may hesitate to offer roles commensurate with migrants’ skills. As a result, foreign-born women face high levels of overqualification and underemployment.
Kristelstein-Hänninen (2022) shows that even highly educated immigrant women experience long job searches — often lasting six to seven years — before securing employment aligned with their qualifications, regardless of language proficiency or additional studies.
Qualitative accounts illustrate these structural barriers. Anisa, a woman from Yemen with ten years of IT experience, was told that her Finnish language skills needed to be at a near-native level to work in her field. During integration courses, she observed that “most of us were sent to cleaning, cooking, or elderly care,” reflecting systemic issues in job placement practices.
Research by E2 for STTK and Suomen Ekonomit similarly finds that many highly educated immigrant women are steered into low-paid, low-skilled roles rather than positions aligned with their training. At least 23% of employed women with an immigrant background consider themselves overqualified for their current jobs (Larja, 2020).
Structural barriers also exist within employment services. Some interviewees reported being denied support from TE-palvelut due to legal status or because they were already employed in so-called “survival jobs,” limiting opportunities to transition into roles that match their expertise.
Mariam faced a similar experience when engaging with Finland’s TE services. She initially entered Finland as an international student to pursue a master’s degree, despite already holding a master’s qualification in biotechnology from her home country. After completing a second master’s degree in biochemistry at a Finnish university and gaining experience through assistant work within the university, she was still unable to secure a position aligned with her qualifications in the Finnish labour market. Ultimately, through personal networks rather than formal employment services, she obtained work as a dishwasher in an Asian restaurant.
Outi Suorsa (2020) notes that international graduates in Finland often value English-language career paths more highly and that those who leave Finland report greater career satisfaction, suggesting that the Finnish labour market does not fully utilize international talent.
Around 4,000 immigrants are estimated to work in private households in Finland, mainly in the Helsinki metropolitan area (HS.fi). This sector is frequently framed by employers through so-called “win-win thinking”: by hiring a housekeeper from abroad, employers claim they gain balance in their own lives while the worker gains access to Finland and employment. However, testimonies collected by Helsingin Sanomat reveal a far more unequal reality beneath this narrative.
Some workers report that they do not dare to ask for clear working hours or defined responsibilities. Fear of losing their job, residence status, or the goodwill of the employer makes it difficult for them to say no. Workers describe long working days, unclear schedules, and an unspoken “debt of gratitude” toward employers who are perceived as gatekeepers to Finnish society (HS.fi). In some cases, employers expect housekeepers to always be available — even when sick — blurring the boundary between paid work and personal obligation.
Employers openly acknowledge that migrant labour is cheaper. As one employer quoted in Helsingin Sanomat stated, “They do the work cheaper than a Finnish student” (HS.fi). This cost advantage, however, is achieved at the expense of labour protections, predictability, and dignity.
These dynamics disproportionately affect migrant women, who dominate domestic and care-related work. According to Dr. Nilay Kılınç, migrant workers are overrepresented in health and social care, administrative and support services, as well as accommodation and food services. Women, in particular, are channelled into what Kılınç describes as affective labour — work that requires emotional effort, such as caring, comforting, patience, and maintaining a positive attitude as part of the job (Kılınç).
Affective labour is not only physically demanding but emotionally exhausting. It often remains undervalued and poorly regulated, despite being essential to households and welfare systems. Migrant women performing this work face a double disadvantage: discrimination based on both gender and migrant status. As Kılınç notes, this pattern is not unique to Finland but occurs across the European Union, where migrant women experience occupational segregation and limited upward mobility (Kılınç).
This form of labour contributes to a pattern in which migrant women are systematically pushed into low-paid jobs. While such work enables others to pursue careers and family balance, the workers themselves are often denied the same stability.
Ultimately, these conditions highlight how labour market inequalities are reproduced not only through policy and institutions, but also inside private homes.
Conclusion
The evidence clearly shows that the unemployment and underemployment of immigrant women in Finland cannot be attributed to a lack of education, motivation, or effort. Instead, these issues stem from a combination of discrimination, institutional barriers to credential recognition, gendered caregiving responsibilities, and exclusionary social attitudes. These factors not only marginalize immigrant women economically but also adversely affect the life chances of their children, representing a significant missed opportunity for Finnish society. Without sustained, targeted, and inclusive interventions, Finland risks continuing to underutilize the skills of immigrant women, which ultimately costs individuals, families, and society as a whole. It is crucial to change the support provided to immigrant women. If you agree, please sign this.
#immigrant #women #empower #europe #employment
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Petition created on December 29, 2025