Finland

Motherhood and early childhood are firmly secured by the Finnish welfare state. Mothers have free access to special advisory and health care services during pregnancy and after giving birth. The services attend to the general health of mothers and their babies, and provide guidance in motherhood skills. The state also provides every expectant mother with a maternity package containing basic care necessities and clothes for care of the newborn child.

An earnings-related maternity benefit (about 70 percent of salary) is paid for 105 days, and a parental leave allowance is paid for a further 158 days. Parental leave can be taken by either parent, but it is typically the mother who stays at home. Fathers are entitled to a paternity leave of about three weeks. Every child in Finland under school age has the right to daycare, and a child of 6 years of age is entitled to preschool education. The availability of daycare is one of the most significant factors enabling mothers to work. After maternity/parental leave, mothers have a legal right to return to their previous jobs. The rate of employment of mothers with children aged 9 or older is as high as that of fathers. Most Finnish mothers work full time. During their compulsory education, children are provided with school meals, general health care services, and dental care paid for by the government.

On average, Finnish women are 30 years old and men 32 when they marry. Before they marry, a couple may live together for several years and have their first child. In 2006, half of all women giving birth to their first child were not married. Of second children, a third of all women were married; and of third children, a quarter of all children were born to mothers who were not officially married. Common-law marriages have become an increasingly typical family arrangement in Finland.

In 2007, 20 percent of families with children 0–17 years of age were single-parent families. The majority of single parents were women; only one in 10 were male. Motherhood is taking on increasingly different forms in Finnish society. About every tenth child is born to a mother who does not live in a permanent relationship. The number of such mothers has slightly increased over the past few years. Some mothers live in a registered partnership; in 2007, there were 146 same-sex couples with children in Finland.

For a western European country, the fertility rate in Finland is high. Since the late 1980s, it has continuously been above 1.7; in 2007, the figure was 1.83. The average number of children in a Finnish family is 2.2. The typical family has two children, followed by families with at least three children. A number of women remain childless for various reasons; of those women who are nearing the end of their childbearing age, 16–17 percent are childless.

Advanced maternal age is defined as an increase in the age at which women give birth to their first child. First-time mothers in Finland are on average 28 years old. Part of the reason for women postponing motherhood is their high level of education. Other reasons are employment insecurity, lifestyle preferences, and difficulties finding a suitable partner. In 2007, 10 percent of first-time mothers were aged 35 or above, and this tendency is expected to grow. Postponing motherhood may affect fertility. Fertility treatments have increased; today, 3 percent of children in Finland are artificially conceived.

...