Blog Post #2 - Family Structure and Function

The most common family type is a married couple with no children.

The majority of families with children only have one child. This plays a role
in how seriously Finland takes reproductive rights and education. The
Finnish government has made commitments to improve their family
planning services. Part of these commitments included affordable birth
control and contraceptives. Additionally, there is no age limit on the
reproductive services that Finland provides, making Finland one of the
accessible health care providers in the world. The textbook explains how
social organizations are what makes up deep structure within a culture. The
reproductive services that Finland offers to their citizens shows that Finland
values the health and safety of women.
Finland puts a lot of importance on equality between both parents. It
is common practice for both parents to do equal amounts of work around
the house and with the children. Additionally, children are encouraged to be
independent at a very young age. Children have their own play space that
they are expected to take care of and keep clean. Children also do a lot of
playing and learning independently. Something else that I found in my
research that I found interesting is how seriously Finnish people take
postpartum depression. There is a mental health nurse that aids mothers
for years after the baby is born. I noticed in my research that Finnish
culture is a lot more sensitive to women's needs than other countries. They
have more services and resources for women in all aspects of life. Women
are better advocated for and better set up for success in Finland.
In Finland, children get a lot more time with both their parents as
infants. This is because the welfare system allows ample maternity and
paternity leave. I found an article that fathers in Finland spend more time
with their children than any other country in the world. Additionally, the
Finnish government provides their citizens a baby box with all the supplies
you would need to take care of a newborn. This has decreased infant
mortality rates in Finland and made for better prepared parents. This box is
funded by social security money. This shows that Finland is a more
collectivist society because they put money toward making the country
reach their goals collectively instead of only focussing on individual
successes.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/04/finland-only-country-world-dad-more-
time-kids-moms
https://psyche.co/ideas/finns-start-life-safe-and-sound-with-a-baby-box-from-the-government
https://www.finnwards.com/living-in-finland/families-in-finland-
today/#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20family%20type,that%20doesn%27t%20have%20c
hildren.
https://www.fp2030.org/finland/documents/#tab
https://finland.fi/life-society/finnish-society-places-value-on-family-time-and-inclusivity/
https://www.friso.com.sg/guides/natural-parenting-finland-raising-kids-who-love-
learn#:~:text=At%20a%20young%20age%2C%20kids,when%20it%20comes%20to%20learning
.
https://www.makchic.com/mums-of-the-world-parenting-in-finland/