Background The Family Empowerment Scale (FES) is a widely used instrument which measures the parents' own sense of their empowerment at the level of the family, service system and community. It was originally developed for parents of children with emotional disabilities. Aim The aims of this study were to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Finnish FES and to examine its responsiveness in measuring the empowerment of parents with small children. Methods and participants The English FES was translated into Finnish using back translation and modified so as to be generic and convenient for all families. The construct, convergent, discriminant and concurrent validities, reliability and responsiveness of the Finnish FES were examined. Participants (n = 955) were the parents of children aged 0–9 years who had been selected using stratified random sampling. Results Confirmatory factor analysis proved that the Finnish FES had three subscales based on the original FES. Convergent and discriminant validities confirmed and supported the same construct. The relationship between parents' participation and empowerment was tested for concurrent validity. As in previous FES studies, the participating parents were more empowered, which supported the concurrent validity. The reliability of the Finnish FES proved acceptable for both parents. The Finnish FES could also discriminate the responses of the parents. Participation in the activities organized by the family service system influenced parents' perceptions of empowerment more than did their background characteristics. Conclusions The Finnish FES is a valid and reliable instrument and it is suitable for measuring the empowerment of parents. However, it is necessary to consider how the FES would identify in the best way the parents who perhaps need some help.