Laura Kemppainen

I work as a Senior Researcher at Tampere University of Applied Sciences in the GrowWell research group, which focuses on family wellbeing. My research expertise centres on migration, integration and belonging, equality, and the accessibility of social and health services. I am particularly interested in how migration, the life course, families’ everyday lives and service systems are interconnected in a changing society.

In my work, I combine research based on population and register data with qualitative perspectives. I am especially interested in mechanisms of inequality, the use and accessibility of services, and how research-based knowledge can be used to develop more equitable services. I enjoy collaborating with higher education institutions, the public sector, NGOs and service providers, both regionally in Pirkanmaa and in international research and expert networks.

For me, it is important to produce research-based knowledge that helps us understand social phenomena and supports the development of services, practices and decision-making that take people’s diverse life situations into account.

·         migration, integration and equality

·         life course, families and differences between population groups

·         use and accessibility of social and health services

·         register and population data, and mixed-methods research

·         using research-based knowledge to develop services and practices

Docent in Sociology, University of Turku and University of Helsinki
Docent in Gerontology, Tampere University
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9320-2442

Co-Editor-in-Chief, Nordic Journal of Migration Research

Co-leader of the thematic group, IMISCOE Standing Committee Families, Welfare, Care and the Life Course

Visiting Researcher, Migration, Care and Ageing research group, Sociology, University of Helsinki, https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/migration-care-and-ageing

·         Buchert, U., Kemppainen, L., Olakivi, A., Wrede, S. & Kouvonen, A. (2023). Is digitalisation of public health and social welfare services reinforcing social exclusion? The case of Russian-speaking older migrants in Finland. Critical Social Policy, 43(3), 375–400.

·         Kemppainen, T., Kemppainen, L., Kuusio, H., Rask, S. & Saukkonen, P. (2020). Multifocal integration and marginalisation: A theoretical model and an empirical study on three immigrant groups. Sociology, 54(4), 782–805.

·         Kemppainen, L. (2025). Sensory Dislocation and Transnational Ties: Exploring the Forced Immobility of Older Russian Speakers in Finland Amidst COVID-19 Restrictions. Global Networks, 25(1), e12516.

·         Kemppainen, L., Kemppainen, T., Raitanen, J., Aaltonen, M., Forma, L. et al. (2025). All-cause and cause-specific mortality among older migrant and non-migrant adults in Finland: A register study on all deaths, 2002–2020. European Journal of Public Health, 35(3), 587.

·         Kemppainen, L., Kemppainen, T., Kouvonen, A., Shin, Y. K., Lilja, E., Vehko, T. et al. (2023). Electronic identification (e-ID) as a socio-technical system moderating migrants’ access to essential public services: The case of Finland. Government Information Quarterly, 40(4), 101839.

·         Kemppainen, L. M., Kemppainen, T. T., Reippainen, J. A., Salmenniemi, S. T. et al. (2018). Use of complementary and alternative medicine in Europe: Health-related and sociodemographic determinants. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 46(4), 448–455.