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For 82 Years Finland Has Been Giving Out A ‘Starter Kit’ For New Parents That Includes 63 Items
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For 82 Years Finland Has Been Giving Out A ‘Starter Kit’ For New Parents That Includes 63 Items

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Becoming a new parent is surely exciting, not just for the parents-to-be, but also for everyone involved. Oh, and also the internet, if you decide to track your pregnancy in pictures and costumes like this young lady did.

However, kicking off parenthood also comes with its own challenges, like getting all of the necessary baby items and learning all of the proper methods of taking care of a baby before he or she actually arrives. And that is in addition to the physical challenges that mothers have to go through while pregnant.

Well, Finland’s government has kicked off a maternity package program that attempts, among many other things, to alleviate some of the stresses of becoming a parent.

The government of Finland has been providing new moms with baby starter packs since 1938

Image credits: Roni Rekomaa / AP

The maternity package, or the baby box, as it is colloquially referred to in many parts of the world, is a kit for new parents that contains all of the essentials that the baby will need during his first year on Earth. Bored Panda has reached out to Heikki Tiittanen, one of the founders of the Finnish Baby Box, the producer and distributor of baby boxes beyond Finland, to elaborate on this idea.

The state-issued maternity package contains a vast number of baby clothes as well as care products and materials. Among all of the clothing, there’s a snowsuit that doubles as a sleeping bag, lightweight overalls, caps and balaclavas, onesies and jumpsuits, tights, mittens, and socks, all of varying sizes to compensate for the baby’s rapid growth throughout the year.

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The contents also include a separate sleeping bag and blanket, bedding and linen, pocket nappy, towel, feeding and drooling bib, a child’s first book, and a cuddly toy that doubles as a comfort blanket.

There are even personal care products for mothers, like bra pads, nail scissors, a toothbrush, a digital thermometer, talcum powder, nipple cream, condoms, lubricant, sanitary towels, a bath thermometer, and a hairbrush.

Best of all, the box that all of the environmentally-friendly baby essentials come in doubles as a bed lined with a cushion for comfort. This amounts to a total of around 60 items, which are updated yearly based on client feedback.

The idea was initially launched in response to declining birth rates and increasing infant death counts

Image credits: Kela

We’ve asked what inspired the Finnish Baby Box to bring this baby starter pack to the rest of the world: “Probably not surprising, but the inspiration to create the Finnish Baby Box was simply our own experience when expecting our first babies. We received the baby box provided by the Finnish government and felt such great relief. Especially to me, as a soon-to-be-father seeing all the baby clothing and accessories on our floor was truly the moment when I realized that there will be a baby moving in shortly.”

He continued: “Mothers experience the baby every day, but for fathers, there is no similar experience when expecting. The baby box somehow made it so much more real for me. Also, as first-time parents, we didn’t have a clue what was needed for the baby. It helped us tremendously to get a starter pack with everything useful and necessary already in it. We truly felt that we were much better prepared for the baby—both mentally and materially.”

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Back in 1937, the Finnish government enacted the Maternity Grants Act in response to declining birth rates and increasing infant mortality. The act guaranteed financial and material aid to low-income mothers, either in the form of money or the maternity package. A bit over 10 years later, the benefit was expanded to include all new mothers.

Each kit comes with all of the essentials for the baby’s first year: clothing, care products, materials and toys

Image credits: Kela

The idea of the baby box has been around in Finland for over 80 now, but other countries have only now started adopting it, and most in limited capacities. Tiittanen explains: “Unfortunately, the reason is money. The baby box program, including a full set of essential baby products, is not cheap to provide and, therefore, the idea has not been realized in most of the countries.”

He continues: “However, now that many countries are seeing their birth rates dropping, interest towards supporting families with young children has definitely increased. In some countries, it is actually not a state level, but a municipality level thing, which is much more independent and agile enough to start these types of programs. We, for example, help municipalities and other organizations run their own baby box programs. I believe that these types of smaller-scale and localized endeavors will become more common in the coming years.”

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Alternatively, instead of getting the baby box, new moms can also go for a €170 government grant

Image credits: Kela

According to Kela, around 60,000 maternity grants are given out each year, with about 40,000 being in the form of a maternity package. The remaining third choose the tax-free cash benefit, which currently amounts to €170 (almost $185 US dollars). Finland is currently one of the top countries that has the lowest infant mortality rate in the world with only 2.5 infant deaths per 1,000 births. In context, this number is at 5.7 in the US, 4.5 in Canada, and 4.2 in the United Kingdom. The world average infant mortality rate is 49.

“For us, the biggest advantage of the baby box is that it addresses the issue on a mental level,” elaborated Tiittanen. “Receiving a curated starter pack of useful baby items made us feel much better prepared for the baby and significantly reduced the stress level for both of us as parents. Also, opening up the baby box together with my wife was one of the most memorable moments in my life. I don’t cry often, but that really made me emotional and I felt much more connected to the whole process of becoming a father.”

Kela distributes over 40,000 maternity packages every year

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Image credits: Kela

Several commercial baby box companies came under fire some time ago for a lack of proper health and safety certification standards. Besides that, they were seen as attempting to incorporate the concept of the baby box in countries that have different social welfare systems, while the original maternity package offered by the Finnish government is provided as an inherent part of the nation’s social welfare system and should be taken advantage of within its context.

While Finland is the pioneer of the baby box and has been providing its citizens with this service for over 80 years now, a number of other countries have started following in its footsteps. Parts of Australia, Scotland, and the US, as well as the earliest adopter in this list, Argentina, have all come out with their own version of the government-funded maternity package.

Since the maternity package changed over the years, we’ve asked the founder of the Finnish Baby Box what changes could we possibly expect in later editions, and he answered with an interesting concept: “The contents of the government-issued box in Finland have changed quite drastically during the years. After the wars, in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the box only included a set of fabrics as most people still sewed their own clothing. So, maybe we could go a little bit back to this with a set of fabric and instructions to sew at least one piece of clothing yourself.”

The 2019 edition of the maternity package provided by Kela contains 63 items, which you can see in this video

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Image credits: Kela

Lastly, we’ve asked about the greatest challenges in making these baby boxes, to which Tiittanen replied: “We believe in our Scandinavian roots, so the designs are always simple, colorful and playful. We also wanted to keep the original Finnish idea of gender-neutrality, so we don’t provide separate boxes for girls and boys. For us, working with the entire world, the challenge has been the different climate conditions around the globe. This we have, however, steadily tackled during the years and, nowadays, the content is always customized for the baby based on the climate as well as the due date information.”

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below!

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sluclakito avatar
LittleMissLotus
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The U.S. should take a page from Finland's book, this is an awesome idea!

mollytallmadge avatar
spikey-bunny avatar
Spikey Bunny
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember hearing about these when my kids were born in the US over 25 years ago. What an awesome program!!!! Everything in this box is completely useful and needed, including the Box! Some people even use the box as a cradle for their baby during the first few weeks, and then as storage for mementos after. When my kids were born we were given a lot of products from companies like formula and diapers and creams, but these things in the baby box are necessities! Excellent job Finland!!!!!

cjucz22 avatar
Christina Uhlir
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Americans are quick to throw out everything, they don't think if items could be reused. It's very wasteful, throw -out nation.

Load More Replies...
jamie1707 avatar
jamie1707
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Great idea! I got such a kick watching the unboxing video!

kevinhickey avatar
Kevin Hickey
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yet another example of things that governments can do if they weren't wasting trillions on pointless wars.

bpbperic avatar
Night Owl
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is awesome! So great; every morden country with declining birth rates should do something like this (much better idea than making abortions illegal)

cjucz22 avatar
Christina Uhlir
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...not only abortions, religious right (the holy folks, as I call them) opposes any form of contraception as well, however, they don't want their taxes raised so the government could take care of all those unwanted children. That's what I call 'compassionate hypocrisy'.

Load More Replies...
anonyymi avatar
Anon Yymi
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh nooo, the terrors of socialism! Taxes helping the needy, what ever will we do?

d8888893 avatar
An Opinion
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Australia parents get a "baby bonus". Not sure what it's worth these days but 10 years ago it was about $4000.

sarde1981 avatar
Saara-Elina Kaukiainen
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh I remember when I got mine 12 years ago. It was a really good starter pack. All the essentials and few nice to have things. :)

teresacline avatar
Cold Contagious
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a absolute wonderful thing. The fact that healthy birthrates are increased is proof over many years that it works. I would have loved to had these. They would have been so helpful, as well as being prepared by some who may not be able to be as much as they would have liked to have been. I was fairly fortunate that everyone saw to it that I was more than prepared,, but I had been on been on doctors ordered bedrest, with only 1 hour allowed up out of the bed total a day, due to gestational hypertension and toxemia from 4.5 months on. I couldn't manage doing much organizing, shopping, decorating, or nesting myself. At a whopping weight gain of 20 lbs, I was so confused as to why I was so sick, it was no where in our family history. So these boxes would have been so loved and appreciated, if only, but alas I am living in the US.

cjucz22 avatar
Christina Uhlir
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I understand that European countries have low birthrates, however, the rest of the world is populating the earth like crazy - 7.8 billion and counting, plus billions upon of billions of animals heinously tortured and murdered in high-speed slaughterhouses, because all those people want to eat only meat, eggs, dairy. Our planet cannot sustain it, we all will eventually perish - not enough drinking water, not enough land, leading to wars and natural disasters. I'm not being skeptical, that's reality.

Load More Replies...
edc_82 avatar
Lola
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The US does too. They give you a big, fat bill.

chinita_505 avatar
Carolina Marshall
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In England I was given a £500 grant by the government which we put in our son's trust fund, plus the hospital gave us a starter pack with al the basic necessities, like nappy cream, beast pads, a health book, toiletries for baby and me. Lovely memories.

ash2lar avatar
Christine M Quigley
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've read about this for years- what a wonderful way to know your government cares! With the shameful infant morality rate in a country as rich as ours, it just shows, once again, how little our government feels about the maternal/child care in this country. Pro life? Gimme a break, pro birth and control over women is all it is. The heck with offering support to the mother and baby after birth. Makes me soooo angry...We should be ashamed of our government...So little consideration for our teachers and education system as well, children don't matter much to those in charge. For shame! It will all come back to burn us in the end...

florintoma avatar
Florin Toma
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My wife and I had our baby girl last year. The City Council provided us with a big box full of all the things needed. It barely fitted in the trunk of my car (a Suzuki Vitara 2018). Above the fact that there were a lot of useful things in the box, the quality of them all was outstanding. We had a contact thermometer, nail clipping kit, lots of clothes lots of diapers, body lotions and oils, feeding bottles, wet wipes... etc. Therefore, the City Council of Brasov Romania did very good.

southpaw67 avatar
Conor Gilmartin
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Finland provides a free baby starter pack or a $170 grant; the US charges a parent $39.95 to hold their child.

martti avatar
Martti Laurson
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Estonia does that too. And we leave our babies sleeping outside in winter.

khunron13 avatar
Khun Somchai
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, and if I was paying 54% income tax rate I would expect a lot of free shyt.

katri_pfuhl avatar
Katri
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's so far from the truth - sounds like you haven't paid a single euro to the Finnish tax system.. where did you even get that number? :D for the tax rate to be 54% in Finland you need to make closer to a million euros a year. If you make 50,000€ ($55,000) a year it's 30%

Load More Replies...
khunron13 avatar
Khun Somchai
Community Member
4 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Yeah, and if I were paying a 54% income tax rate I would expect free shyt too.

jyrihakola avatar
Jyri Hakola
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's true that due the progressive tax rates your income tax eventuallu achieves here the rate of 54% if your annual earnings are 440 000 usd or more. With the median income your income tax is about 25% or lower which mean half of the population is taxed with rates between 10%-25% depending the monthly salary.

Load More Replies...
pillowcasessolidhjql avatar
pillow cases solid Hjql
Community Member
4 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Practical kids gifts! If you need customized gifts for children, you can refer to this list https://www.diyzroal.com

dirigobill avatar
Bill
Community Member
4 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Who gets the govt contract for those boxes and how much do the suppliers charge ? Classic avenue for corruption

jyrihakola avatar
Jyri Hakola
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Contracts are based on public bidding process and this dataset tells the winners of this year's box: https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:551755-2019:TEXT:EN:HTML&tabId=0

Load More Replies...
sluclakito avatar
LittleMissLotus
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The U.S. should take a page from Finland's book, this is an awesome idea!

mollytallmadge avatar
spikey-bunny avatar
Spikey Bunny
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember hearing about these when my kids were born in the US over 25 years ago. What an awesome program!!!! Everything in this box is completely useful and needed, including the Box! Some people even use the box as a cradle for their baby during the first few weeks, and then as storage for mementos after. When my kids were born we were given a lot of products from companies like formula and diapers and creams, but these things in the baby box are necessities! Excellent job Finland!!!!!

cjucz22 avatar
Christina Uhlir
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Americans are quick to throw out everything, they don't think if items could be reused. It's very wasteful, throw -out nation.

Load More Replies...
jamie1707 avatar
jamie1707
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Great idea! I got such a kick watching the unboxing video!

kevinhickey avatar
Kevin Hickey
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yet another example of things that governments can do if they weren't wasting trillions on pointless wars.

bpbperic avatar
Night Owl
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is awesome! So great; every morden country with declining birth rates should do something like this (much better idea than making abortions illegal)

cjucz22 avatar
Christina Uhlir
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...not only abortions, religious right (the holy folks, as I call them) opposes any form of contraception as well, however, they don't want their taxes raised so the government could take care of all those unwanted children. That's what I call 'compassionate hypocrisy'.

Load More Replies...
anonyymi avatar
Anon Yymi
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh nooo, the terrors of socialism! Taxes helping the needy, what ever will we do?

d8888893 avatar
An Opinion
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Australia parents get a "baby bonus". Not sure what it's worth these days but 10 years ago it was about $4000.

sarde1981 avatar
Saara-Elina Kaukiainen
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh I remember when I got mine 12 years ago. It was a really good starter pack. All the essentials and few nice to have things. :)

teresacline avatar
Cold Contagious
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a absolute wonderful thing. The fact that healthy birthrates are increased is proof over many years that it works. I would have loved to had these. They would have been so helpful, as well as being prepared by some who may not be able to be as much as they would have liked to have been. I was fairly fortunate that everyone saw to it that I was more than prepared,, but I had been on been on doctors ordered bedrest, with only 1 hour allowed up out of the bed total a day, due to gestational hypertension and toxemia from 4.5 months on. I couldn't manage doing much organizing, shopping, decorating, or nesting myself. At a whopping weight gain of 20 lbs, I was so confused as to why I was so sick, it was no where in our family history. So these boxes would have been so loved and appreciated, if only, but alas I am living in the US.

cjucz22 avatar
Christina Uhlir
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I understand that European countries have low birthrates, however, the rest of the world is populating the earth like crazy - 7.8 billion and counting, plus billions upon of billions of animals heinously tortured and murdered in high-speed slaughterhouses, because all those people want to eat only meat, eggs, dairy. Our planet cannot sustain it, we all will eventually perish - not enough drinking water, not enough land, leading to wars and natural disasters. I'm not being skeptical, that's reality.

Load More Replies...
edc_82 avatar
Lola
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The US does too. They give you a big, fat bill.

chinita_505 avatar
Carolina Marshall
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In England I was given a £500 grant by the government which we put in our son's trust fund, plus the hospital gave us a starter pack with al the basic necessities, like nappy cream, beast pads, a health book, toiletries for baby and me. Lovely memories.

ash2lar avatar
Christine M Quigley
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've read about this for years- what a wonderful way to know your government cares! With the shameful infant morality rate in a country as rich as ours, it just shows, once again, how little our government feels about the maternal/child care in this country. Pro life? Gimme a break, pro birth and control over women is all it is. The heck with offering support to the mother and baby after birth. Makes me soooo angry...We should be ashamed of our government...So little consideration for our teachers and education system as well, children don't matter much to those in charge. For shame! It will all come back to burn us in the end...

florintoma avatar
Florin Toma
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My wife and I had our baby girl last year. The City Council provided us with a big box full of all the things needed. It barely fitted in the trunk of my car (a Suzuki Vitara 2018). Above the fact that there were a lot of useful things in the box, the quality of them all was outstanding. We had a contact thermometer, nail clipping kit, lots of clothes lots of diapers, body lotions and oils, feeding bottles, wet wipes... etc. Therefore, the City Council of Brasov Romania did very good.

southpaw67 avatar
Conor Gilmartin
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Finland provides a free baby starter pack or a $170 grant; the US charges a parent $39.95 to hold their child.

martti avatar
Martti Laurson
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Estonia does that too. And we leave our babies sleeping outside in winter.

khunron13 avatar
Khun Somchai
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, and if I was paying 54% income tax rate I would expect a lot of free shyt.

katri_pfuhl avatar
Katri
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's so far from the truth - sounds like you haven't paid a single euro to the Finnish tax system.. where did you even get that number? :D for the tax rate to be 54% in Finland you need to make closer to a million euros a year. If you make 50,000€ ($55,000) a year it's 30%

Load More Replies...
khunron13 avatar
Khun Somchai
Community Member
4 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Yeah, and if I were paying a 54% income tax rate I would expect free shyt too.

jyrihakola avatar
Jyri Hakola
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's true that due the progressive tax rates your income tax eventuallu achieves here the rate of 54% if your annual earnings are 440 000 usd or more. With the median income your income tax is about 25% or lower which mean half of the population is taxed with rates between 10%-25% depending the monthly salary.

Load More Replies...
pillowcasessolidhjql avatar
pillow cases solid Hjql
Community Member
4 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Practical kids gifts! If you need customized gifts for children, you can refer to this list https://www.diyzroal.com

dirigobill avatar
Bill
Community Member
4 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Who gets the govt contract for those boxes and how much do the suppliers charge ? Classic avenue for corruption

jyrihakola avatar
Jyri Hakola
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Contracts are based on public bidding process and this dataset tells the winners of this year's box: https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:551755-2019:TEXT:EN:HTML&tabId=0

Load More Replies...
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