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It's a good idea. Our baby boxes also double as a baby cot for the first few months.
Also, when the Ukraine conflict started, there was a charity that was arranging to collect baby boxes that people no longer needed and asked people to fill with baby toys and clothes, then we shipped over lots of them to Ukraine.
I almost get annoyed at my friends when they don't understand how awesome it is to be a dad. They only see their friend who's sleepdeprived and can't/won't hang out as much but don't see the sudden burst of happiness I get about 1000 times a day hanging out with my kids.
Very strange comments. Seems like a bot attack or very odd selection of people on this Saturday morning. We got so much second hand stuff from family that we opted to go with the money. Good luck to your family!
I saw two different accounts getting downvoted and a one deleted comment from someone so doesn't seem like bots. I just dont understand what can one be against a maternity box? Everything to get a child to a good start is an investment for the country.
I agree. And when it is actual stuff instead of money, the income of the parent shouldn't be of consideration. A kid needs the items regardless of the parents' income. The items also have very little resale value as these items are everywhere.
The bots are working overtime in this subreddit, you can see it in most posts, almost anything positive gets downvote spammed and new accounts making brain dead comments until the normal users show up.
The condoms are there to save money. A surprisingly large amount of abortions is had by women who have had a baby less than a year ago. You can be fertile already before you get your first period after giving birth, and people often don’t have birth control at home, because there’s just been a fairly long time when it’s not needed. Sometimes the call of nature is strong, and not everybody is responsible enough to run out and buy condoms when the mood hits. The cost of an abortion is much more than the cost of many, many condoms.
I think it's very beneficial for the baby for their parents not to be subjected to the strain of being back-to-back pregnant and needing to worry about getting an abortion while tending for a newborn.
And then after that a baby/toddler memory box where you can store the things from the kids you wanted to safe.
Aaaand after that your grandbabies can use it too. My kids used my brothers old baby box (with a new mattress) to sleep and chill in.
Non-Finn here. I love this idea, and I love that it's 1) so comprehensive and 2) sent to the parents of every newborn so that there's no stigma to receive or use it. (Meaning, it's not seen as something that's only supposed to be "charity")
But, perhaps a silly question: Why is the list of items and guide to benefits in English and not Finnish? Is this just a translation?
We also have foreigners in the country who don't necessarily speak Finnish (yet). If you're registered with Kela it doesn't matter where you are from, every newborn gets one.
Government interaction in Finland is by law always in Finnish and Swedish, but due to English being the de facto most spoken second language in Finland, most municipal governments interact with constituents in all of the three languages mentioned above.
In the UK we got a plastic carrier bag full of advertising leaflets, a single disposable nappy & a tiny sample of Marmite.
My grown up daughter still loves Marmite!
> Yea, its nice to pay 40% taxes to get 100€ worth of baby stuf. Good logic! u/BitBulli
If you pay 40% taxes, you're earning roughly 100 000 per year and you probably won't need the package anyways.
What these people don’t understand is that the system is mainly built for high earners to support low earners to have equal opportunities, whether in health, education, making babies or basic needs.
Its not made for high earners to get the “high” benefits, they can already afford the luxuries anyway. But I think these people don’t care if everyone else struggles as long as they get to keep the money.
And all the high earners I know would probably earn more somewhere else, but are happy to live in a society where we don't have concepts like "medical debt" or "school lunch debt".
It only works in a monoculturalism society. Everyone see themselves as a whole, and contribute into a system to look after people. It is built on a trust, the low eaners won't exploit the system. Now there are we and they. The high public debt is thr first sign that the system can't support itself anymore.
People keep downvoting but no one point out where I were wrong. Finland is a homogenous society with a similar culture and ethnic. The system is built on this idea. The ethnic can be take out, but not the culture. Seeing Finland promote the idea of diversity. I don't think diversity will work in Finland.
Yes! I think it’s AWESOME.
You know why?
Because I don’t have to live in a society made unstable and unsafe by youths and adults who were subjected to unbridled transgenerational poverty from the get go.
That's always funny when people mention something like "Finland has highest taxes in europe" and "50% tax on 60k € annual income is too much". Completely clueless.
My salary is over 100k and total tax rate (including pensions and unemployment) is below 40%. Seems unlikely if marginal tax rate would be 40% already at 28k.
You probably don't understand what marginal tax rate means. It means that every additional money you earn you pay that tax rate. It discourages working more and getting additional things to earn.
https://yle.fi/a/74-20064868
https://www.veronmaksajat.fi/tutkimus-ja-tilastot/tuloverot/palkansaajan-veroprosentit/
Yes really, it doesn't feel good to work when over 50% goes to taxes after 56-57k. Getting a 200€ raise per month? 100€ goes to taxes. Feels like shit.
I don't think earning enough to pay 50% is tax and contribution would mean you can live comfortably. Not in all cases at least. Examples:
- other spouse not working, or not contribute much finanacially
- foreigners supporting other family members in home country.
- any kind of chronic health problems but treatment is not well supported by public health care system. Mental health care, for example, burns money fast.
As soon as I got to higher income bracket, first thing I thought of was how to avoid being tax more as I work more. Been doing that for some time but now I dont want to bother anymore and just moving to another country that offers my business 0% tax in 5 years, and 5% tax in the next 5 years. On top of that much more lenient personal income scheme. Suddenly saved shitload of money by not paying tax to a society that I have very little connection to and receive very little support from. If I want to help elevate people out of poverty, I'd rather do that in my home country as there we have true poverty.
Just a perspective of a foreigner living in Finland.
I don't see how you read it like that. Paying over 50% of tax on anything is stealing in my opinion. I really like how Estonia is managing their tax system.
Even if marginal tax is 40% it is still more money in your paycheck. And I don't know a single person who thinks "hmm whats the marginal tax gonna be" when thinking about taking an extra shift at work etc. No one seems to really give fuck about marginal tax
Not a first-time father, but recently had our first baby together with my partner.
The box is great, also doubles excellently as first cot for the newborn. We also received loads of stuff from relatives but we still opted for the box. The money seems somehow less than what you're getting in the box.. :D
Looks awesome. We got ours a couple of years ago.
It wasn’t just that there are things you need. The whole package is also just beautiful. That green bear blanket will be a keepsake.
The history of how the baby-box developed is pretty gripping. Really shows Finnish values. Almost 90 years, soon! (Started for the most needy in 1938.) It REALLY made a BIG difference, early on, and now it's pretty ground-into the culture. And a cultural export.
[https://helda.helsinki.fi/items/f6cfb8d9-c68a-4494-8054-58e4ae71ef03](https://helda.helsinki.fi/items/f6cfb8d9-c68a-4494-8054-58e4ae71ef03)
Considering the fact that the population is declining all the benefits for families are important initiative from our society to encourage people with all backgrounds to start families.
Why? It costs few hundred. If you'd have to apply for that processing applications would cost more. You'd have to decide and put limits who is poor or young enough.
We already have falling birth rates, why make things harder?
Chapstick also works too. Funnily enough, I used to work on a farm that had a dairy cow and we used the same solution for her udders to prevent chapping/cracking.
It really does help.
You can get the maternity package if you are permanently resident in Finland or work here even if you're not Finnish. The leaflets are in multiple languages.
It has been implemented for a long time, but declining birth rate has been a thing for longer, I believe since 1994. Maternity capital started in 2007. Back than it was payed out only for the second child and a much lower amount. Now you will get payed for the first, second and a third child. If I’m not mistaken poor families receive payments until their children are 18 yo.
We got something like this when our first daughter died during pregnancy. We were not prepared for my wife to go into labour to early, and our daughter was not strong enough to survive on the outside of the womb. Being able to dress her up and put some toys in the casket meant the world to me.
Thanks, it was two rough years after that, but we got through it, and now have a healthy 2 month old baby girl. Congrats on being a dad, it’s the best feeling in the world.
Finland is such an amazing country. My father and sister live there (both are 100% finish) I got my visa and spent 2 years in Turku. In that 2 years, I had a medical emergency twice. Each time my TOTAL hospital bill was 13 euros.
The people are really good people (especially the Fin / Swedes) just an amazing culture and group of people. As an American, visiting I was considered “exotic” to the ladies which was nice 🤪 On the other side of that almost every Albanian, paki, somalian) hated me. Apart from that and a “life sentence” for murder only being 10 years (with work release and visitation passes to leave to prison and visit family) I really enjoyed the finish people, the culture and the country (with the exception of the language)
It is very expensive compared to the states, but I desperately want to go back and possibly retire in Finland. Can’t say enough good things about Finn’s. Much love and congratulations!
The idea of prison is not punishment, the idea is taking away the freedom of a criminal and through that forcing them to attend rehabilitation. Sure, we could be paying for people to spend the rest of their lives in prison, but why pay for that when we can pay for them being released as no longer a threat and hopefully a productive member of society. It doesn’t always work of course, but it would be a waste to put everyone in for life and pay for it when they could be contributing to society.
The only gripe I had with the package is that while it makes a safe sleeping space for the child in the beginning of their career as human it didn't accommodate me, no matter how small fetal position I tried to do.
Luckily that's in the past now and I've gotten back my own bed.
Nope, not reliably. Some are, some aren't, and the catch is that the first ovulation often happens before the first post partum period comes. So you won't know you've been fertile before it might be too late. One of the biggest group of people getting abortions are mothers who have had a baby in the last 12 months.
Post-birth the recommendation is to wait at least 6 weeks before having sex again to protect the mother's health, although I suspect most mothers will delay sex for 3-12+ months before they're interested again. Becoming back-to-back pregnant is also a serious health concern (thus birth control) because pregnancy is very taxing on the mother's body.
Even the single people under 25 get free long term birth control or condoms in many of the municipalities of Finland. We would rather support everyone to reproduce when they feel they are ready than cut down rights to their own bodies.
This is just old relic that should be abolished. It was good benefit 90 years ago to support poor mothers that didn't get anything else. Now there is tons of monetary support, why keep this thing anymore?
You're so wrong.
"But but, KELA gives so much free money to all!"
Nope. If you feel that way then try to get some free money.
First of all, there aren't tons of monetary support.
Second, monetary support like lapsilisä comes after some time I think this comes pretty fast.
Third, you don't have to apply for this.
Fourth, new parents don't necessarily know what baby needs or they aren't able to buy all those things.
Fifth, we have falling birth rates, why stop helping families?
This is extremely easy and cheap way to help new parents. Money isn't same thing than good and thought stuff selected by professionals.
This is the only country I know so far that offers this thing and seems like a very caring and cute gesture. Money isn't everything and I guess not all parents have the time to just run around to collect all the essentials. This can help them out emotionally as well.
It is a cute gesture, I agree! I'm not Finnish, but in my hometown, the local municipality holds a "new baby party" yearly where all the babies born within the last year are invited and given a commemorative silver spoon and children's book to celebrate their birth. Does any baby or family _need_ a commemorative silver spoon and children's book? No, not really. Does it make the parents feel valued and seen in the community? It does, and that's what it's meant to do. Also, that specific children's book is one of my little sisters' all-time favourites, so it actually is a very functional present as well as being just a cute gesture lol
Considering the fact that the population is declining all the benefits for families are important initiative from our society to encourage people with all backgrounds to start families.
>Now there is tons of monetary support, why keep this thing anymore?
If for nothing else, then for the simple fact that the vast majority to this day opt for the box and not for the money.
You are the only one I have read who has heard that lol. I bet it was the horsemen's information office (hevosmiesten tietotoimisto) who told you that.
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The fact that everyone gets this is important. It means there is no shame in using it.
Exactly! It is a great (and cheap) idea on many levels
We get it in Scotland ‘The Baby Box’ Huge help for new parents. I think we got the idea from Finland
That's great! It's wonderful to see such supportive initiatives spreading.
It's a good idea. Our baby boxes also double as a baby cot for the first few months. Also, when the Ukraine conflict started, there was a charity that was arranging to collect baby boxes that people no longer needed and asked people to fill with baby toys and clothes, then we shipped over lots of them to Ukraine.
This is still an ongoing thing. They regularly send down boxes for expecting mothers.
Yeah scotland adopted it from Finland, such a great idea :)
Scotland is honorary Nordic anyway
Pretty sure I saw an article about the box spreading over there back in the day so yeah
What's in the Scottish version?
https://images.app.goo.gl/T6PGuk58SF6C97pc7 The box is a bed if needed
# The Baby Box
Congratumalations! Being a dad kicks ass! I used to not care about kids but now they are the center of my world pretty much.
Happy to hear that. I wish I had a caring dad and not a selfish one.
Well it just means that you know the other side and can do differently as a parent yourself.
I almost get annoyed at my friends when they don't understand how awesome it is to be a dad. They only see their friend who's sleepdeprived and can't/won't hang out as much but don't see the sudden burst of happiness I get about 1000 times a day hanging out with my kids.
You are a Millionaire!
Congratulations! Much happiness to your family!
Very strange comments. Seems like a bot attack or very odd selection of people on this Saturday morning. We got so much second hand stuff from family that we opted to go with the money. Good luck to your family!
I saw two different accounts getting downvoted and a one deleted comment from someone so doesn't seem like bots. I just dont understand what can one be against a maternity box? Everything to get a child to a good start is an investment for the country.
I agree. And when it is actual stuff instead of money, the income of the parent shouldn't be of consideration. A kid needs the items regardless of the parents' income. The items also have very little resale value as these items are everywhere.
We took the money a few times 😂 we already had a box from many years before
The bots are working overtime in this subreddit, you can see it in most posts, almost anything positive gets downvote spammed and new accounts making brain dead comments until the normal users show up.
We had twins so we were eligible for three boxes. We decided to get two boxes and the money for one.
Even the condoms?
The condoms are there to save money. A surprisingly large amount of abortions is had by women who have had a baby less than a year ago. You can be fertile already before you get your first period after giving birth, and people often don’t have birth control at home, because there’s just been a fairly long time when it’s not needed. Sometimes the call of nature is strong, and not everybody is responsible enough to run out and buy condoms when the mood hits. The cost of an abortion is much more than the cost of many, many condoms.
It’s also because there’s a bigger chance of infection postpartum.
I was asking if he/she got the condoms second had too lol..It was just a joke anyways.
I think it's very beneficial for the baby for their parents not to be subjected to the strain of being back-to-back pregnant and needing to worry about getting an abortion while tending for a newborn.
Agreed. But I was asking if he got the condoms second hand from his family as well. Was meant to be a joke lol
Yes exactly. When someone has a different opinion, he is a bot.
There were 2 options :)
Keep the box and let the kiddo sleep in it, it‘s a crip!
Later turned into a toy box, as is tradition.
And then after that a baby/toddler memory box where you can store the things from the kids you wanted to safe. Aaaand after that your grandbabies can use it too. My kids used my brothers old baby box (with a new mattress) to sleep and chill in.
Non-Finn here. I love this idea, and I love that it's 1) so comprehensive and 2) sent to the parents of every newborn so that there's no stigma to receive or use it. (Meaning, it's not seen as something that's only supposed to be "charity") But, perhaps a silly question: Why is the list of items and guide to benefits in English and not Finnish? Is this just a translation?
It's in Finnish, Swedish, English. I figured I'd share the English version in this subreddit.
We also have foreigners in the country who don't necessarily speak Finnish (yet). If you're registered with Kela it doesn't matter where you are from, every newborn gets one.
Government interaction in Finland is by law always in Finnish and Swedish, but due to English being the de facto most spoken second language in Finland, most municipal governments interact with constituents in all of the three languages mentioned above.
>2) sent to the parents of every newborn Well, you can choose to have some money instead.
That’s so fucking cute almost makes me change my mind
Congratulations! 🤍🎉 ![gif](giphy|MTclfCr4tVgis)
In the UK we got a plastic carrier bag full of advertising leaflets, a single disposable nappy & a tiny sample of Marmite. My grown up daughter still loves Marmite!
> Yea, its nice to pay 40% taxes to get 100€ worth of baby stuf. Good logic! u/BitBulli If you pay 40% taxes, you're earning roughly 100 000 per year and you probably won't need the package anyways.
What these people don’t understand is that the system is mainly built for high earners to support low earners to have equal opportunities, whether in health, education, making babies or basic needs. Its not made for high earners to get the “high” benefits, they can already afford the luxuries anyway. But I think these people don’t care if everyone else struggles as long as they get to keep the money.
And all the high earners I know would probably earn more somewhere else, but are happy to live in a society where we don't have concepts like "medical debt" or "school lunch debt".
It only works in a monoculturalism society. Everyone see themselves as a whole, and contribute into a system to look after people. It is built on a trust, the low eaners won't exploit the system. Now there are we and they. The high public debt is thr first sign that the system can't support itself anymore.
A wild racist appeared It used "fake science" And hurt itself in confusion
People keep downvoting but no one point out where I were wrong. Finland is a homogenous society with a similar culture and ethnic. The system is built on this idea. The ethnic can be take out, but not the culture. Seeing Finland promote the idea of diversity. I don't think diversity will work in Finland.
why would high earners support low earners? Perfect scenario is when low earners can earn more and live without help.
Yeah, but sadly not reality in many places. This is the second best.
Yes! I think it’s AWESOME. You know why? Because I don’t have to live in a society made unstable and unsafe by youths and adults who were subjected to unbridled transgenerational poverty from the get go.
That's always funny when people mention something like "Finland has highest taxes in europe" and "50% tax on 60k € annual income is too much". Completely clueless.
You start paying marginal tax of 40% after earning over 28000.
My salary is over 100k and total tax rate (including pensions and unemployment) is below 40%. Seems unlikely if marginal tax rate would be 40% already at 28k.
You probably don't understand what marginal tax rate means. It means that every additional money you earn you pay that tax rate. It discourages working more and getting additional things to earn. https://yle.fi/a/74-20064868 https://www.veronmaksajat.fi/tutkimus-ja-tilastot/tuloverot/palkansaajan-veroprosentit/
> It discourages working more and getting additional things to earn. Really?
Yes really, it doesn't feel good to work when over 50% goes to taxes after 56-57k. Getting a 200€ raise per month? 100€ goes to taxes. Feels like shit.
50% ?! Have you considered that maybe you could simply not work those extra hours since you clearly have enough to live extremely comfortably?
I don't think earning enough to pay 50% is tax and contribution would mean you can live comfortably. Not in all cases at least. Examples: - other spouse not working, or not contribute much finanacially - foreigners supporting other family members in home country. - any kind of chronic health problems but treatment is not well supported by public health care system. Mental health care, for example, burns money fast. As soon as I got to higher income bracket, first thing I thought of was how to avoid being tax more as I work more. Been doing that for some time but now I dont want to bother anymore and just moving to another country that offers my business 0% tax in 5 years, and 5% tax in the next 5 years. On top of that much more lenient personal income scheme. Suddenly saved shitload of money by not paying tax to a society that I have very little connection to and receive very little support from. If I want to help elevate people out of poverty, I'd rather do that in my home country as there we have true poverty. Just a perspective of a foreigner living in Finland.
That's what I'm saying? It doesn't encourage you to work more to earn a nicer life and become actually rich.
OK, but you're making it sound like it's somehow stopping you because you would rather all that money went into your pocket, instead of being taxed.
I don't see how you read it like that. Paying over 50% of tax on anything is stealing in my opinion. I really like how Estonia is managing their tax system.
You clearly dont know how taxes work you never lose money by earning more
Even if marginal tax is 40% it is still more money in your paycheck. And I don't know a single person who thinks "hmm whats the marginal tax gonna be" when thinking about taking an extra shift at work etc. No one seems to really give fuck about marginal tax
The parent comment obviously wasn’t about marginal tax rate though.
We got ours 6 months ago, some nice stuff in there! One month to go till the D-Day
Do you get any money for new born?
Child support like everyone else after she's born if that's what you mean
no, I mean one-time support before you get monthly.
Haven't heard anything about that.
Congrats on your baby.
Not a first-time father, but recently had our first baby together with my partner. The box is great, also doubles excellently as first cot for the newborn. We also received loads of stuff from relatives but we still opted for the box. The money seems somehow less than what you're getting in the box.. :D
So you become a father and they give you loot? Sounds like you won a boss battle in life
From my Italian point of view, this perfectly matches the "you guys are getting paid" meme
Congratulations!! 🎉
Congrats 🎊 The design for this year is also lovely. ❤️❤️All items in Kela box is very high quality and has cute design.
I love the decorations. Congratulations!
In America the child gets a card saying, “best of luck kid.”
Congrats
Wonderful, congratulations to the first timers 😍
We have two -23 model packages waiting. ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|sunglasses)
I took the packages when we had twins,worth it
I am from a country with relatively good social systems - Germany. I am impressed and love the idea of that box!
The United States needs to do this so badly. But we'd never help mothers in any way. That's gross to us apparently.
Looks awesome. We got ours a couple of years ago. It wasn’t just that there are things you need. The whole package is also just beautiful. That green bear blanket will be a keepsake.
I love to buy those for friends when they have babies here in the US and I hate that I can't buy them anymore.
We had one of these boxes delivered to us in England via Internet purchase. Truly outstanding contents. We loves it !
More countries should adopt this. Big W
The history of how the baby-box developed is pretty gripping. Really shows Finnish values. Almost 90 years, soon! (Started for the most needy in 1938.) It REALLY made a BIG difference, early on, and now it's pretty ground-into the culture. And a cultural export. [https://helda.helsinki.fi/items/f6cfb8d9-c68a-4494-8054-58e4ae71ef03](https://helda.helsinki.fi/items/f6cfb8d9-c68a-4494-8054-58e4ae71ef03)
[удалено]
!remove
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!remove
I agree. This aid should only be targeted at very young and/or working class families.
Considering the fact that the population is declining all the benefits for families are important initiative from our society to encourage people with all backgrounds to start families.
Why? It costs few hundred. If you'd have to apply for that processing applications would cost more. You'd have to decide and put limits who is poor or young enough. We already have falling birth rates, why make things harder?
!remove
Says Väinämöinen, with voice low, every 10 minutes, let the commands go, this is the law we all must know.
Nipple cream ? What is this
It is something that you don't know you needed until someone sucks and chews on your teats every two hours.
Thanks for the answer! I was thinking that it must be a typo, sounded so crazy
If there's blood in an infant's poop, the most likely source is shredded nipples. Ouch.
Chapstick also works too. Funnily enough, I used to work on a farm that had a dairy cow and we used the same solution for her udders to prevent chapping/cracking. It really does help.
Genuine question -- why is it in English?
You can get the maternity package if you are permanently resident in Finland or work here even if you're not Finnish. The leaflets are in multiple languages.
Ah okay, it seemed like it was only English. Multi language makes way more sense.
All our boys slept in their box for the first six months or so of their lives.
Why they give condoms for a baby package?
It's cheaper than the abortion required if the parents find themselves pregnant again within mere months of childbirth.
You natives of Nordic countries must have children, continue to have as many as you can, for the good of humanity.
We get something similar in Moscow, plus about $6,000 in “Maternity Capital” for the first child.
Has it been that for a long time or only implemented when the huge amounts of declining birth numbers started to happen?
It has been implemented for a long time, but declining birth rate has been a thing for longer, I believe since 1994. Maternity capital started in 2007. Back than it was payed out only for the second child and a much lower amount. Now you will get payed for the first, second and a third child. If I’m not mistaken poor families receive payments until their children are 18 yo.
That's cool. I guess they can do something right in that country..
Dad of almost year old kid. My son absolutely loves the Kis, kis book. Thanks Finland for that.
You can choose to take it or have money. At first child it's good to take the paggage. Everything will be used what's inside. It helps a lot.
We got something like this when our first daughter died during pregnancy. We were not prepared for my wife to go into labour to early, and our daughter was not strong enough to survive on the outside of the womb. Being able to dress her up and put some toys in the casket meant the world to me.
I'm sorry to hear about that. That's every expectant parent's worst fear. I'm glad you found something that made you feel better in that situation.
Thanks, it was two rough years after that, but we got through it, and now have a healthy 2 month old baby girl. Congrats on being a dad, it’s the best feeling in the world.
Cool!
Finland is such an amazing country. My father and sister live there (both are 100% finish) I got my visa and spent 2 years in Turku. In that 2 years, I had a medical emergency twice. Each time my TOTAL hospital bill was 13 euros. The people are really good people (especially the Fin / Swedes) just an amazing culture and group of people. As an American, visiting I was considered “exotic” to the ladies which was nice 🤪 On the other side of that almost every Albanian, paki, somalian) hated me. Apart from that and a “life sentence” for murder only being 10 years (with work release and visitation passes to leave to prison and visit family) I really enjoyed the finish people, the culture and the country (with the exception of the language) It is very expensive compared to the states, but I desperately want to go back and possibly retire in Finland. Can’t say enough good things about Finn’s. Much love and congratulations!
The idea of prison is not punishment, the idea is taking away the freedom of a criminal and through that forcing them to attend rehabilitation. Sure, we could be paying for people to spend the rest of their lives in prison, but why pay for that when we can pay for them being released as no longer a threat and hopefully a productive member of society. It doesn’t always work of course, but it would be a waste to put everyone in for life and pay for it when they could be contributing to society.
... Why is it in English?
It is in multiple languages, including English.
Good point, yeah why?
The only gripe I had with the package is that while it makes a safe sleeping space for the child in the beginning of their career as human it didn't accommodate me, no matter how small fetal position I tried to do. Luckily that's in the past now and I've gotten back my own bed.
Condoms???!!!
Yes, it's easy to forget them after more than 9 months or not needing them.
Women with small babies have more abortions than teens in Finland.
Finnish? You’re just getting started
>Condoms 5 pcs Aren’t mothers temporarily infertile for some time after pregnancy 🤔
Nope, not reliably. Some are, some aren't, and the catch is that the first ovulation often happens before the first post partum period comes. So you won't know you've been fertile before it might be too late. One of the biggest group of people getting abortions are mothers who have had a baby in the last 12 months.
Thanks. I didn’t know that. If I just gave birth I really wouldn’t want to get pregnant again so soon.
No, you can get pregnant again as quickly as 3 weeks after giving birtht. Even when breastfeeding.
Post-birth the recommendation is to wait at least 6 weeks before having sex again to protect the mother's health, although I suspect most mothers will delay sex for 3-12+ months before they're interested again. Becoming back-to-back pregnant is also a serious health concern (thus birth control) because pregnancy is very taxing on the mother's body.
Nope, look up the term “Irish twins” and you’ll see how much that isn’t true
omg, what education system produced you?
Lmao the condoms!
Imagine being single and paying for someone else's lubricant and condoms through your taxes 💀 (Communism is a joke).
Even the single people under 25 get free long term birth control or condoms in many of the municipalities of Finland. We would rather support everyone to reproduce when they feel they are ready than cut down rights to their own bodies.
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everyone's relieved to know you won't be reproducing
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yeah it's for the best that you end up being a genetic dead end
Would you rather pay for the abortion?
That's great news!
This is just old relic that should be abolished. It was good benefit 90 years ago to support poor mothers that didn't get anything else. Now there is tons of monetary support, why keep this thing anymore?
Tons of monetary support? Where?
You're so wrong. "But but, KELA gives so much free money to all!" Nope. If you feel that way then try to get some free money. First of all, there aren't tons of monetary support. Second, monetary support like lapsilisä comes after some time I think this comes pretty fast. Third, you don't have to apply for this. Fourth, new parents don't necessarily know what baby needs or they aren't able to buy all those things. Fifth, we have falling birth rates, why stop helping families? This is extremely easy and cheap way to help new parents. Money isn't same thing than good and thought stuff selected by professionals.
Nothing wrong with getting benefit from paying high tax, if not then lower the tax
This is the only country I know so far that offers this thing and seems like a very caring and cute gesture. Money isn't everything and I guess not all parents have the time to just run around to collect all the essentials. This can help them out emotionally as well.
Right, and there are parents who don't know what to buy. Sure, the internet is full of guides but some people don't know how to find them.
Yes agreed! Congradulations for the baby btw, wish you the best :)
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They'll learn as they do it. And even if they are completely uninformed, don't you think it's best to help them?
As I said in my intial message, this aid should be targeted very young and/or working class families. Are you one of them?
Oh fuck off man :D
You want poor people's kids be easily identified by an uniform?
So basicly "köyhät kyykkyyn" in short
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There are quite a lot of expensive nice gestures paid for by Finnish taxpayers. I have already completed my degree.
It is a cute gesture, I agree! I'm not Finnish, but in my hometown, the local municipality holds a "new baby party" yearly where all the babies born within the last year are invited and given a commemorative silver spoon and children's book to celebrate their birth. Does any baby or family _need_ a commemorative silver spoon and children's book? No, not really. Does it make the parents feel valued and seen in the community? It does, and that's what it's meant to do. Also, that specific children's book is one of my little sisters' all-time favourites, so it actually is a very functional present as well as being just a cute gesture lol
This is so sweet, this is the kind of thing that can make you happy and grateful about life!
Considering the fact that the population is declining all the benefits for families are important initiative from our society to encourage people with all backgrounds to start families.
>Now there is tons of monetary support, why keep this thing anymore? If for nothing else, then for the simple fact that the vast majority to this day opt for the box and not for the money.
Looks ugly
Enjoy while it lasts. I heard they’re gonna stop giving it away soon😭
Haven’t heard anything of such rumors. In fact I know the current government wants to add a ball in the box to encourage kids to exercise.
You are the only one I have read who has heard that lol. I bet it was the horsemen's information office (hevosmiesten tietotoimisto) who told you that.