Browsing by Author "Hurtig, Anna-Riikka"

The goal of this thesis is to study the desired domestic services provided by municipalities for families with children, specifically from the viewpoint of families that have not used the service before. Additionally the survey sought out reasons as to why the service was not used. The questions presented in the survey asked what the families would want from the domestic services and which factors are stopping them from using these services. The survey has been performed using qualitative research methods. The material was gathered by interviewing eight mothers from Vantaa in semi-structured thematic interviews, and the gathered material was analyzed using content analysis and thematic analysis. The survey revealed several situations where families with children would have use for domestic services, including the birth of a new child, the illness of a child or parent, and the lack of a support network. Most often help was needed for taking care of the children, but also with housework, like cooking, laundry, and cleaning. The material shows that the mothers desired concrete and temporary help with their day-to-day chores, and there was no need for guidance services. The mothers had a basic idea of the domestic services provided for families with children, but they weren't aware the requirements or minimum criteria for receiving the services. The material showed that the families had not used the services because of their cost, the need for self-suffiency, and a lack of trust. The mothers felt that the application process for the services was difficult and that domestic services for families with children were only available in emergencies. None of the interviewees had been offered domestic services even though some of them had already been using other municipal social services. According to the material domestic services are used by people who know how to ask for them. The services need to be described as preventative services with minimal criteria, better than they currently are. In addition the application criteria and the intended clients of the domestic services for families with children should be communicated more clearly.