In the late 1980s, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health directed the welfare system through five departments: social insurance, social welfare, health care, temperance and alcohol policy, and labor. According to Finland's administrative tradition, it is the task of a ministry and its departments to determine policy, which is then administered by central boards. In the case of social policy, there were three central boards for social welfare, health, and labor protection. An exception to this administrative division was the Social Security Institute, which supervised the national pension plan and health insurance for the Eduskunta and the Council of State.

The actual supplier of social care was local government--the municipality--supervised by authorities at the provincial level who had to approve the administrative plans of municipalities before these local governments could receive funds from the state. In the early 1980s, funds from the state made up about 30 percent of the monies spent on all social services and pensions, while employers supplied about 40 percent local governments, 15 percent and the recipients of services, the remainder.

Data as of December 1988