Now this is my kind of nanny state. A thought:<p>This program started for low-income families but was extended after a few years to all families. The nice thing about universality rather than means testing is that a) middle class families are more apt to continue supporting it if they can experience its benefits first-hand; b) you save the money that would otherwise be spent testing, enforcing and auditing the system; and c) it builds solidarity and shared values rather than socioeconomic conflict and what I've come to regard as <i>revenge egalitarianism</i>.
Lovely article. However, I must say that the box is only the tip of the iceberg. It's been almost four years since we went through the gauntlet so my memory may be a bit fuzzy but if I remember correctly the FREE tier of forming babby in Finland includes:<p>- Initially monthly (increaing to weekly) pre-natal checkups that include bloodwork, metabolism tests, ultrasounds and any treatments necessary to ensure the baby's and mother's health.<p>- About 12 hours of parental training which I found surprisingly useful (containing none of the Lamaze class stereotypes I had been expecting). Also, our group of people contained an absolutely adorable teenage couple, everybody else was in their late twenties to mid thirties.<p>- The whole "actual business". Now this bit we did have to pay for, about $80 per day that we stayed in one of the maternity ward's private rooms with full room service.<p>- First weekly and later monthly post natal checkups (also for the mom) including vaccinations. At two years the schedule switches to annual checkups and starts including dental chaeckups. At some point during the first months a doctor actually visits your home to check up on how you are dealing with the whole situation. If there are clear indicators of problems (e.g. alcoholism) the doc can point you in the direction for help.<p>- You start getting about $150/month from the state for the baby (until it is 18 years old), this is about half of the cost of municpal daycare. In addition to this you get financial support during (m|p)aternity leave (the amount is actually scaled based on your salary). Maternity leave is about 100 days, paternity leave is about 50 days and on top of that you are entitled to 160 days of parental leave (either mom or dad can take this). Your place of employment can get state compensation if they decide to pay you a full salaray during your leave. Then there is a general child care leave than can extend to three years, it gets nitty gritty with the bureaucracy of compensations but effectively it is possible to take care of your kid for the first three years and still have your old job back when you're done. In our circle of friends there are at least a couple of "career women" who have checked out for ~5 years to have two kids and successfully gotten back into the game.<p>So yeah, the box is nice but it is only the icing on the fabulous cake that is having a baby in Finland :-).
They should do this in the UK. From observing the locals, the maternity grant (until yanked by the government) was used to buy designer gear for the mother, cigarettes and some expensive fashionable buggy for the baby (usually topped up by the baby's grandparents).<p>Unfortunately essential stuff was forgotten.<p>This solves those problems.
The first thing that I noticed about the box is that all the baby clothes are sex-neutral. Here in North America it's almost impossible to find baby clothes that don't immediately scream "I'm a boy" or "I'm a girl".
If we lived in a world where journalists knew the slightest bit about critical thinking: Hmm, I wonder if the cardboard box cuts Finland's infant mortality. Maybe I should look up infant mortality for Norway and Sweden? Oh, it's exactly the same as Finland's? Can't be the box then.<p>I'm willing to bet that U.S. infant mortality is the same or even lower -- for people of Finnish descent.
> It's a tradition that dates back to the 1930s and it's designed to give all children in Finland, no matter what background they're from, an equal start in life.<p>What a wonderful idea. My daughter was born in Chicago last year, and the hospital (Northwestern Memorial) gave us a little starter kit with bottles, pacifiers, some swaddling blankets, etc. I remember thinking as I walked out the door of the hospital that this was the last time that these kids would an equal shot at life.
The BBC seems to have taken the story down.<p>You can see a list of what goes in the box here: <a href="http://www.kela.fi/web/en/maternitypackage" rel="nofollow">http://www.kela.fi/web/en/maternitypackage</a>
Title of this article sounds a lot worst than what the article presents (thankfully). This is off topic, but as refreshing as this article is, I wonder how many readers avoided reading this due to the title as it could've been a very depressing article.
Infant mortality rates can also be quite deceptive in that they aren't measured the same way between countries.<p>"Even the use of the most fundamental term, “live births,” greatly distorts infant-mortality rates, because often the infants who die the soonest after birth are not counted as live births outside the United States."<p><a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/content/infant-mortality-deceptive-statistic" rel="nofollow">http://www.nationalreview.com/content/infant-mortality-decep...</a>
But does it decrease infant mortality? According to the CIA Facebook 2013 figures, Finland has the 12th lowest infant mortality<i>. Not sure if this means the scheme works, or if simply paying a pregnant woman $50 each time she visits a doctor prior to birth would be a cheaper alternative (with the same outcome).<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mor...</a><p></i> The WHO recommends countries record all babies born alive as live births, but some countries don't if the baby dies soon after (this makes them look better).
I imagine the stress that this would take out of new parents' lives would be enormous. Apart from the physical and financial pressures, one thing that I think would weigh on me most when becoming a dad would be "are we doing this right?" Especially for those that don't have parents or an experienced role model to help them, at least as a concept this seems like a fantastic program for a govt to run.
I like that Finland has added cloth diapers and taken the bottle out. I wish, though, that sleeping with baby wasn't stigmatized, and that ultrasounds weren't deemed to be expected and normal during prenatal care (you may not hear or feel it, but watch a baby who is further along react - they freak out).<p>Anyway, the Finns seem to have their hearts in the right place. Well done.
I think the article is interesting, but they make the claim that the box may have helped lower infant mortality. Is that supported by any data? Would love to see a study, maybe pair Finland with a close neighbor country that does not provide the box etc.
Funnily enough, in Germany parents are advised to not let their newborns sleep in somewhere with all four sides closed (as is the case in this box).<p>The alleged reason is to reduce the risk of sudden infant death.
I'm jealous - not of the Finnish babies, but of the companies who provide the boxes and the contents.<p>It must be a nice sinecure.<p>You'd probably have lots of free time to send press releases to the BBC.
I would see how this box would give Finland one of the world's lowest infant mortality rates. You can't lug a crib with you to different rooms. With a box, you can bring it to the same room you occupy, greatly increasing the observation time of the baby. This is a nice gesture of this country. I can't say the same for the blatant waste of taxpayer money I experience in my country.