Last Thursday YLE reported that the government is proposing limits on the unemployment benefit. Friday, STT reported that Tuula Hatainen, the Minister of Education, has reached an agreement of the maximum duration for degree studies in universities and other institutes of higher education. There is now a seven year limit.

Is this the slow chipping away of the welfare state? Little changes like these are happening constantly, are they just minor adjustments or do they add up to something larger?