Family Futures

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Balancing work and family life to

improve the well-being of parents and children

Johanna Lammi-Taskula, Unit Manager, and Ronald Wiman, Development Manager,

National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland

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hen Finland first started building a universal

system of basic social security and essential

services for all, it was still a ‘post-conflict

developing country’. In those days of the late 1930s and

1940s, its gross national income per capita corresponded

to that of today’s low-income or lower-middle-income

countries such as Namibia, Angola or Egypt. The economy

was dominated by the primary sector, with a large share

of small-scale subsistence farming.

Gender equality has a long tradition in Finland’s societal poli-

cies. Finland was the first country in Europe to grant women

electoral rights (1906). During World War Two and after-

wards, rapid industrialization called for social policy measures

that would enable women to join the industrial and service

sector labour force. During the decades since, the evolving

family policy measures have supported both gender equality

and the modernization of the economy.

The right to work is of key importance for gender equality.

One essential labour market equality measure implemented

in 1976 was the move away from joint income taxation for

married couples to a separate income taxation. Because taxa-

tion was progressive, the previous joint taxation created

a strong incentive for couples to keep the lower-earnings

partner – usually the wife – from joining the labour market.

There has also been a long positive cycle in the area of women’s

rights at work. Legislation protecting pregnant women at the

work place has existed for over a century in all Nordic countries.

Maternity leave following the birth of a child has been part of

Nordic legislation for over 50 years. The challenge of combining

motherhood and paid work has been recognized, and solutions

have been sought to protect the health and well-being of both

mother and child.

In Finland, Mother and Child Health (MCH) clinics were

introduced in 1922. Since 1949 they have been operating

nationally. Today all pregnant mothers meet the clinic nurse

12-15 times and have two to three check-ups with a doctor

at the clinic. Both mothers and fathers attend family train-

ing provided by the clinics. After delivery, home visits are

made by the nurse, and during the first year the baby has nine

check-ups at the clinic. During the next period before school

age (seven years old), the child has a further six check-ups.

The Maternity Grant has been provided in Finland since 1938.

The introduction was prompted by concerns over declining birth

rates, high infant mortality and poverty. At first, the Maternity

Grant was for low-income mothers only. Since 1949 the grant,

in cash or in kind, has been available to all expectant mothers

and adoptive parents who are residents in Finland. They can

choose between a maternity pack or ‘baby box’ and a tax-free cash

allowance, which is currently €140. Since the very beginning, the

maternity pack option has been very popular among families. Its

cash value has been far higher than the cash option. The mater-

nity pack was actually a Finnish social innovation, globally the

first of its kind. It contains children’s clothes and other carefully

chosen necessary items such as bedding, cloth nappies, towels

and childcare products in a sturdy box that can be used as the

baby’s first bed. The Maternity Grant or baby box is a condi-

tional benefit: it is granted only if the mother follows a prescribed

schedule of visits to MCH clinics. This is an effective instrument

that has brought infant mortality rapidly down since 1950.

Another early important universal instrument that improved

children’s health – and at the same time lightens the burden of

working mothers –was introduced in 1948 and has been func-

tioning since then. Finland was the first country in the world to

provide free school meals to all pupils. All children get a nutri-

tious warm lunch, and the family does not need to rush with

(often less healthy) sandwich boxes or burden parents (typi-

cally the mother) with preparations for having lunch at home.

Universal benefits for families with children in Finland

include the universal child allowance (since 1949), which is

Lunchtime at a primary school: free school meals for all pupils have been

provided since 1948

Image: Antero Aaltonen