According to Save the Children, Finland is the best country for mothers and children. The box they receive contains 50 different items such as clothes, toys, and hygiene supplies. The box itself can also be used as the baby’s first crib. If the mother doesn’t want the box, they can choose the cash equivalent of €170.
2. Children ride to school and back in a free taxi
Finnish law dictates that if a school is any further than 5km away from the child’s home, they must be given a free taxi or bus ride there and back.
3. Playgrounds have kitchens, swimming pools, and game rooms
In Helsinki, you’ll find specially fenced playgrounds with safe paving. There are games and escape quests held there, and you’ll always find a box full of toys. Some playgrounds have small swimming pools and special game rooms, where you can find board games, books, toys, a kitchen with a fridge, a microwave, and even highchairs. And it’s all free!
4. You can drink tap water
According to research, the tap water in Finland contains 100 times fewer microbes than bottled water. Thanks to a multi-stage cleaning, you can safely drink Finnish tap water without boiling it first. This also applies to most water from Finnish lakes.
In Finland, children can go to preschool when they’re just 9 months old. There’s one teacher for every 4 kids under the age of 3, and 1 teacher for every 7 kids when they turn 3. The monthly expenses are around €1,000, but parents pay no more than €280.
6. You enjoy very good conditions on your mortgage
Finland has one of the lowest mortgage rates in the world. Under certain conditions, it’s possible to get a mortgage with 95% of an apartment’s cost at 1.25% but it can go up to 4%.
Compare: if an apartment costs €200,000, and the term of the mortgage loan is 10 years, then at 15% per annum, the overpayment on the loan will be €187,211, and at 2% per annum, it's just €20,833.
7. Residents actually experimented with universal basic income
Between 2017 and 2018, 2,000 Finns receive a €560 monthly payment as part of an experiment. It turned out to be successful, but an unconditional basic income of €800 given to every resident of the country is still not enacted. Why? Well, the government feels that if people are confident that they won’t end up penniless, then they won’t grab the first job they see, but will take the time to find one they really like. It will also help those who have just started their own business or are thinking about doing so, and it DID show improvement in employment.
8. In Helsinki, they have automated waste collection
Several sectors of Helsinki have an automated solid waste collection system. When you throw the trash out, it’s sucked into a tube and sent to the main waste sorting station at 70 kph. This means no garbage trucks and no smells.
When you buy drinks in Finland, you pay a deposit which you can only get back by putting cans and bottles into a special recycling machine. You’ll get 15 cents for a can and 40 cents for a large bottle. This helps to keep the streets clean.
10. A doctor’s prescription is visible in an electronic system all pharmacies have access to
When a doctor writes a prescription, it goes into an electronic system that every pharmacy around the country has access to. This enables you to buy your medicine without any pieces of paper in any pharmacy, even in another city.
11. The roads are very good
Finnish roads are well constructed: a 2 meter layer of granite rocks and 3-4 layers of frost resistant asphalt. This costs €500,000-1,000,000 per 1km of road, but they last for approximately 10-12 years. The roads have webcams installed, which allow snowblowers to immediately see where snowfall needs to be cleared.
Source: brightside
