The Rise and Fall of a Welfare State

A number of nice things started happening in Finland after the Second World War. Our heroic veterans wasted no time making babies after getting back home, and soon the nation had to really roll up its sleeves in order to deal with the sudden surge of Boomers.

A Finnish Boomer (Homo perceles) in its natural environment.

The coming decades saw huge investments in education, housing and infrastructure. The country also underwent rapid industrialization in order to repay the massive war debt and to create new jobs.

Our maternity and children's clinic system founded in the 1920s became standard and spread all over the country, and mothers started giving birth more often in hospitals than the sauna. National vaccination programs practically eliminated a number of diseases that used to kill lots of children, and the overall rapid improvements in healthcare and education contributed to Finland becoming one of the safest countries in the world for having kids.

Because it was no longer necessary to breed like rabbits in order to have at least some of the children survive into adulthood, family planning started to be a thing and even more so after 1962, when birth control pills found their way into the country. At the same time, the industrial and economic growth created more work opportunities for women. In 1973, a new daycare legislation allowed both parents to work outside the home, which was crucial in establishing mothers as part of the workforce.

But as women gained more control over their lives, spending their most fertile years gaining higher education and building their careers, there were less and less babies. Furthermore, as people started moving from rural to urban areas, the rising cost of housing set its own limits to family sizes. Urban lifestyle also gave rise to individualism, as opposed to the traditions and societal pressure of tight-knit rural communities. It was now okay to not have kids at all, should you so choose.

Today, there are even more factors that continue to reduce family sizes. Permanent jobs are more uncommon, which creates financial uncertainty. There's also more pressure for people to relocate in search of work, so family and friends might not be as readily available for helping with kids. Involuntary infertility is also a growing problem, as is finding a partner in the first place. In 2024, the total fertility rate in Finland dropped to 1.25 which is yet another historical low.

As the general population ages and fertility rates continue to decline, immigration is becoming increasingly important in maintaining a viable population structure. And while there are still some who believe we could turn our natural birth rates around, it's not a realistic idea - we are not likely to return to a rural society, or give up on our egalitarian and individualistic values.

It's also important to note that migration still works both ways. Our current youth is way more informed on just about everything compared to the previous generations, and know their options. So when they receive the common message that people should be willing to relocate in order to find work, our kids may do exactly that and move out of the country, which has indeed been gaining popularity. The numbers may not seem that big (roughly 16 000 per year) but it's a continuous flow. And the majority of those who move out are not only of working age, but highly trained. Combined with our low fertility rates, it's not something to be ignored.

When people move here from other countries, they naturally wish to bring their spouses and children along with them. As children are all about learning and adapting, integrating into our language and culture will pose them much less of a challenge than it does to adults. Moreover, while immigrants make up roughly 10% of the current population in Finland, about 18% of babies are born to them. In some of our largest cities, the number is significantly higher.

It seems clear that if we really want to rejuvenate our population structure, promoting immigration is the way to go. But are we doing that?

In order to gain a residence permit for their family members, immigrants must reach a certain level of income. The thresholds are set by The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) annually, and have been tightening in recent years. As of November 2024, immigrants have to earn a gross monthly income of about 3611 euros in order to bring a spouse and two children with them. In comparison, the median income of a Finnish wage earner is around 300 euros less than that. These income thresholds have been a significant reason why many immigrants have not been able to bring their families to Finland with them.

To make matters worse, many of the jobs where there's a shortage of people just aren't paying enough so that immigrants would be able to bring their families along. Foreign workers may need to spend years here apart from their children and spouses. It may also not seem entirely fair to everyone that there are no income requirements for the reunification of families, should it be citizens of Nordic or EU/EEA countries.

Another recent policy change requires immigrants to find new work within three or six months of unemployment, which is causing a lot of distress among our current immigrants. Along with other policies regarding unemployment and financial requirements, it's especially troublesome for researchers and other highly skilled professionals who often have fixed-term contracts.

The current policies have drawn significant criticism from labour unions, human rights organizations and businesses, which has been met with further restrictions to the reunification of immigrant families.

Finland has already been losing its attractiveness in the eyes of our current and potential immigrants. As other European countries are wrestling with the same problems of aging population, it's not like they don't have options.

Question is, do we?