Research group
I am Katri Viitasalo. I am the leader of the FinSoc-project at the University of Helsinki. I hold a doctorate in social sciences and am a licensed social worker. I defended my thesis in 2018, and my thesis dealt with mothers’ financial opportunities and financial social work. I am particularly interested in research on income and financial support, the development of economic social work orientation, and education.
I am Anniina Kaittila. I am the leader of the FinSoc-project. I want to conduct research that supports the development of social work services so that social work clients receive the best possible and research-based support. In this research project, I am particularly interested in implementing an intervention study in financial social work and supporting families with financial challenges. I hold a docent degree in political science, and I am a licensed social worker.
I am Siiri-Liisi Kraav, a university researcher at the University of Eastern Finland and at the University of Helsinki. I am interested in researching the effectiveness of social services and developing effective services. I am particularly interested in social services for children, young people, and families, as well as child welfare issues. I have a PhD in philosophy and am a licensed social worker.
I am Tuula Kaitsaari and I work as a special researcher (50%) in the FinSoc–project. I have a PhD in Social Sciences and am a licensed social worker. My research interests focus on intervention and well-being research. In this research project, I am particularly interested in evaluating financial social work interventions and their well-being effects as experienced by clients and social workers.
I am Aliisa Kuronen and I work as a research social worker in the FinSoc–project. I have a master’s degree in philosophy and social sciences and am a licensed social worker. This year I am on leave from the position of leading social worker in the wellbeing services county of Southwest Finland. While working in services for families with children, I have noticed how essential financial issues are in these instances. It is important for social workers to know financial social work and in this project, I get to train workers to use the FinSoc intervention.
I am Emmi Niklander and I work on the project as a part-time project researcher. I have a master’s degree in philosophy, and I am a final-year master’s student in social work. I am particularly interested in parent-child financial conversations about family financial matters.
I am Meri Moisio. I am writing my doctoral dissertation on financial social work with families with children in Finland and the United States. I also work as a project researcher in this project. I have a master’s degree in social sciences and am a licensed social worker. Financial social work has also become familiar to me through my previous work experience, since I have worked as a social worker in adult social work.
My name is Mia Hakovirta and I am a professor of social work at the University of Turku. Before my university career, I worked as a social worker. My research topics are related to the livelihoods of families with children, especially child poverty and single parenthood, as well as children’s living arrangements and child support after separation. I have been the project leader in the Ministy of Social Affairs and Helath funded project Financial social work in families among children, and I am now a partner in FinSoc– project.
I am Anu Raijas (PhD in Agriculture and Forestry and docent) and I currently work as an advisor in financial literacy at Bank of Finland. I have researched the structure and development of consumption, financial decision-making of families with children and couples, the adequacy of basic security, financial literacy of young people, and over-indebtedness and coping with it. In this project, I act as a financial literacy expert.
I am Henna Isoniemi. I work as a special researcher in a research project examining the effectiveness of service needs assessment for working-age people in the Wellbeing Service County of Southwest Finland. I am a partner in the FinSoc– project. I am particularly interested in implementing intervention studies, researching effectiveness, and developing effective services. I hold a Doctor of Social Sciences (Social Policy) and am a licensed social worker.
I am Enna Toikka, a social work university lecturer at the University of Turku. I have a PhD in Social Sciences and am a licensed social worker. My research interests focus on issues of child and family well-being and poverty, especially from the perspective of children and young people. I am also interested in evaluating the effectiveness of services for children and families with children.
Jarno Tuominen