The education system
The Finnish education system is one of the best in the world. This is mainly due to the country's economic model, which since the Second World War has been based on equality and social justice. Indeed, health and education costs are free for young people, school materials are free, in order to limit inequalities due to family income.
The other important aspect of their system is to give freedom to children once they are at home. As a result, there are fewer lessons and less homework, the objective being that the child learns what he or she needs to learn in class and not at home.
As for the teachers, their job is valued: they are in class for a maximum of 4 hours a day, with 2 hours of training a week... Their salary is good and their studies are paid for by the State.
The Scandinavian model
The Scandinavian model, which also includes Denmark, Norway and Iceland in the other Nordic countries, is of interest to other countries. In France, we follow this model with interest and project certain fantasies onto it. However, not all the Scandinavian countries can be included in a single model. Finland, for example, has joined the Eurozone, which its two neighbours have not done. Today, Finland still seems to have all the right features: the economy remains competitive, even if it slowed down in 2012, social relations are harmonious and the level of corruption is low. It has been able to adapt to the globalisation of the 1990s by undertaking major reforms of the public service and pensions, and by focusing on training, innovation and research. In terms of morals, it is ahead of the game, particularly in terms of women's rights and status. Finland has thus succeeded in reconciling flexibility, high productivity and a high tax burden. However, the Finnish economy remains too dependent on the good health, on a global scale, of the major sectors where it is competitive. The high tax burden also slows down competitiveness. The country has therefore made efforts since 2000 to reduce taxes. Another shadow is that the Finnish unemployment rate in 2018 is 7.6% of the working population. Although this is well below the European average, unemployment is particularly high among the uneducated in Finland. Another worrying phenomenon in the country is the ageing of the population... As a direct consequence, the need for manpower is beginning to be felt, and companies are already finding it difficult to recruit. The European card played by Finland and the opening of its borders may be the way to remedy this. The exceptional specificity of the Finnish model is undoubtedly due to its social cohesion, and above all to its capacity to question itself and to reform itself rapidly thanks to a dynamic, educated and relatively small population.
Universal income
Implemented in early 2017, Finland has been experimenting with the concept of a universal income known as perustulo (or basic income). Its aim is to replace unemployment benefit with a firm allowance of €560 given every month without the need for supporting documents or an obligation to look for work. Finland thought it would boost growth, as the allowance would act as a social shock absorber, making employers less afraid to hire or fire and motivating the unemployed to be more enterprising. The experiment, limited to 2,000 unemployed, was unfortunately not successful enough to be abandoned in 2018 because the sample was not very representative of the Finnish population and the test was too short. It would take at least 5 years to see the real positive or negative effects of such a measure. With hindsight, for many journalists and economists, "the extra €560 was intended to encourage participants to take a job, even one that was poorly paid or not well suited to their skills. The objective was therefore not the reduction of inequality or individual emancipation, but simply the reduction of unemployment. »
A happy people
According to the UN and surveys, the Finnish people are considered to be among the happiest in the world! Far from the stereotypes of suicidal and depressive people because of the long winter nights. However, according to many experts, Finns tend to have difficulty admitting that they have depressive symptoms due to the taboo on mental health. One of the reasons for this is the high unemployment rate among young people. Numerous national campaigns on suicide prevention have been put in place and have helped to free the word. With the health crisis, one of the main consequences is the increase in the sale of alcohol in the country. In April 2020, it climbed by +23% compared to April 2019.
Despite this, the World Happiness Report - which measures the degree of happiness of countries - has elected Finland No. 1 for the third year in a row! A nice revenge for the country that was in 1990, the one with the second highest suicide rate in the world.Midsummer's Day celebrations
Midsummer's Day or Juhannus is a vibrant tribute to the ephemeral victory of the sun over the dark forces of winter. Fires are lit all over the country in the countryside, on the shores of lakes and on islands. In the Swedish-speaking enclaves, flagpoles are erected and garlanded, around which people dance all night. Wisely, the little girls, their hair crowned with blue, white and pink field flowers, begin their farandole in the late afternoon. The evening dance continues in a barn, on a pontoon, on a pier at the water's edge where they dance to the sound of the accordion in the milky light of summer. Sleep was out of the question, all-nighters guaranteed! St. John's Day was traditionally celebrated on June 24, two days after the summer solstice. A law was passed that moved all public holidays to the nearest weekend. On this night, the brightest of the year, all Finns take part in the celebration. In Helsinki, the night lasts only two hours; in Rovaniemi, the midnight sun does not set. Those who have not been able to leave for the countryside go to the Seurasaari Open Air Museum in Helsinki to watch the burning of the bonfire, folk dances and rowing competitions. The highlight of the evening is the wedding ceremony of the Juhannus couple. A survival of ancient traditions, Juhannus is still considered the most auspicious time for a marriage. Many Finns also spend a romantic weekend at their holiday home with a sauna by the lake. It is customary to clean the house thoroughly the day before and decorate it with birch branches and flower garlands. Mountain ash leaves are spread on the floor of the houses, announcing the subtle summer scent. In Juhannus, a sauna session is mandatory. You are whipped with birch branches. The Finns joke that you only need to wash twice a year, at Christmas and Juhannus. In the past, bunches of early birch branches were dried and used for the rest of the year by soaking in water. Nowadays they are simply frozen. The sauna ends with a dip in the lake, followed by a picnic (beer and grilled sausages). The young people travel from one party to the next, their cars decorated with branches. This celebration of St. John's Day revives ancient rites that predate Christianity, such as the Beltane fires lit in the countryside on the night of the summer solstice. At the time, it was believed that supernatural beings exercised their power. It was also the time when the earth forces were supposed to reach their peak. According to tradition, young girls who are still unmarried must collect seven kinds of herbs and flowers and place them under their pillow. If they manage to fall asleep without saying a word, their future husband will appear to them in a dream during the short summer night. In the past, the village elders used to gather medicinal plants with supposedly magical properties during that same night. Midsummer's dew was supposed to make freckles disappear, to protect from evil and naturally to heal..
Homosexuality
Well after Sweden, Denmark or Norway, Finland allows gay marriage from March1, 2017 after two years of processing the application. Today, it is even possible for homosexuals to get married in church, as long as they find a priest willing to do so. Yet, they are still criticized for such marriages, even though public opinion is increasingly tolerating gay marriage in church. But already in 2012, for the first time, a presidential candidate declared himself gay. It was the green candidate Pekka Haavisto, who made it to the second round in 2018. Krista Siegfrids, Finland's 2013 Eurovision candidate, made a big splash by kissing one of her backup singers at the end of her song, which didn't fail to reignite the debate on same-sex marriage.
