Finland, a first-rate place in which to be a mother, has registered the lowest number of newborns in nearly 150 years. The birth rate has been falling steadily since the start of the decade, and there is little to suggest a reversal in the trend.
Demographics are a concern across the developed world, but they are particularly problematic for countries with a generous welfare state, since they endanger its long-term survival.
For Heidi Schauman, the statistics are “frightening.”
“They show how fast our society is changing and we don’t have solutions ready to stop the development,” Aktia Bank chief economist Schauman said in a telephone interview in Helsinki. “We have a large public sector and the system needs taxpayers in the future.”
To do that, the fertility rate should equal two children per woman, Schauman said.
It was projected at 1.57 last year, according to Statistics Finland.
That is a surprisingly low level, given the efforts made by the state to support parenthood.
Perhaps nothing illustrates those better than Finland’s famous baby-boxes. Introduced in 1937, containers full of baby clothes and care products are delivered to expectant mothers, with the cardboard boxes doubling up as a makeshift cot. The idea behind the maternity packages was prompted by concerns over high infant mortality rates in low-income families. The starter kits were eventually extended to all families.
Offering generous parental leave and one of the best education systems in the world does not seem to be working either.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Finland already has the lowest ratio of youths to the working-age population in the Nordics.
And it also has the highest rate of old-age dependency in the region.
The situation is only likely to get worse, according to OECD projections.
The European Commission said demographic factors are limiting Finland’s economic growth potential, which is estimated to peak at 1.9 percent in 2035 and flatten at 1.5 percent between 2050 and 2060.
Reversing the modern idea that it is acceptable not to have kids is impracticable. Opening the doors to immigrants is a political no-go area; Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila’s center-right government relies on the support of nationalist lawmakers.
Social Democrats leader Antti Rinne caused a stir last month when he urged women to fulfill their patriotic duty and have more babies.
The government has been working with employers and trade unions to boost gender equality by making parental leave more flexible and the benefits system simpler. The reforms are expected to come into force in 2019.
Schauman believes that will not be enough.
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