Finnish families then and now - yhteiskuntaorientaatio.fi
Family size has decreased during the past century
We often consider family to mean parents and a minimum of one child. This type of family is called a nuclear family (ydinperhe) in Finland. There are, however, many other types of families in Finland. The notion of what Finnish families are like changes constantly.
Nowadays, families typically have one or two children. People have children at a later age than before. There are also many people and couples who do not have children. Many of them are voluntarily childless. Some are unable to have children even though they would like to.
In the Finnish language, there are different words for family: “perhe” and “suku”. They mean different things, though they are related. “Perhe” normally means family members that live together or the entity of parents and their children. “Suku” means a broader group of relatives, and this includes grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
In Finland, people typically consider grandparents and other relatives to be outside of the nuclear family, even if they are close. In Finland, people do not generally keep in touch with relatives as much as people in many other countries do. However, relationships with relatives vary greatly depending on the family.
During the past hundred years, Finnish families have changed considerably. Earlier, families had more people. A hundred years ago in Finland, one woman gave birth to an average of three children. It was typical that grandparents and cousins or adopted children lived in the same house. The whole family would typically work together on a farm. Members of the same family were dependent on each other and they were expected to take care of each other because there was no social security. In the agrarian society, livelihood and respect in the community were often dependent on family relationships.
Smaller family sizes now are in part due to people having better opportunities to decide how many children they want. Birth control became widely available in the 1960s and people began to talk about family planning. This means that couples can affect how many children they have when they use contraception. Improvements in women’s rights have also contributed to the rise of family planning.
The change from agrarian society into cities has affected families
Urbanisation has greatly affected changes in culture and families. Urbanisation in Finland occurred in the 20th century when a lot of people moved from the country into cities to find work. In 1920, 70% of the Finnish population earned their living from agriculture, but in 1970 this percentage was only 15%.
When people moved into cities, they started paid labour usually in factories or in the service industry. With a salary, they were no longer dependent on their family. Financial and social support used to be the responsibility of families. Due to urbanisation and the development of the welfare state, this responsibility has shifted from families to the state. The objective is that with the help of salaries and government support, all people would have the opportunity to get by even if they received no help from friends or family.
Women’s standing in society has improved
Currently, women and men in Finland have the same value and the same legal rights, and almost the same obligations. The only exception is that compulsory military service only applies to men. This has not always been the case and women used to have less rights than men in Finland.
Unmarried women received the right to decide on their own matters at the end of the 19th century. Married women were freed from their husbands’ guardianship (holhous) in 1930.
For a long time, people were married based on practical reasons and families impacted the choice of spouse. Already in the 18th century, a regulation came into force which demanded that both the husband and the wife had to give voluntary consent to the marriage. Toward the end of the 19th century, a notion of marriage based on love began to be more common. It was possible to be unmarried, but unmarried women were often looked down upon. Divorces were rare before the Second World War, even though the Lutheran church has always authorised divorce in some cases.
Listed below are important laws which provided women the same rights as men in Finland:
- 1878 equal right of inheritance
- 1906 the right to vote and become a candidate for the parliamentary elections
- 1919 the right to engage in trade without a husband’s consent
- 1921 the law on compulsory education ensuring the right to education for both girls and boys
- 1922 the right to write an employment contract without a husband’s involvement
- 1930 the Marriage Act which made the husband and the wife equal in marriage.
Combining work and family life has become easier
Now both women and men can decide for themselves how to combine work and family life. Approximately the same share of men and women are in the workforce. This also applies to mothers, with the exception of mothers of very small children. Men on the other hand are equally responsible for housework and childcare, though in practice this work is not always evenly distributed.
In agrarian society, many jobs were done around one’s own home. Children took part in the work and mothers would look after the children while working. Grandparents who lived in the same household would also take care of the children. Combining work and family life came naturally.
With the rise of industrialisation starting in the mid-19th century, it became more common for women to work in factories in the city. Young women in the upper classes would more often start working as teachers or nurses. During the 20th century, it became more common for married women to work outside the home.
At the end of the 19th century, a law came into force in Finland which freed unmarried women from guardianship. They were thus allowed to decide about their own matters. But if a woman was married, she was under the guardianship of her husband. Combining family and work outside the home was not always possible. Many women chose work over family, and therefore it became more common to be unmarried at the start of the 20th century. When the new Marriage Act came into force in 1930, married women were also freed of their husbands’ guardianship. Since then, women in Finland have been allowed to decide on their own matters even in marriage.
During the war in 1939–1944, men were on the fronts and women took care of men’s work in factories and farms. Many women continued this work even after the war. Due to urbanisation and industrialisation, by the 1970s it was already very common for women to work. Municipalities began to offer daycare for some children, making it easier for women to work.
Women’s working life affected the whole family, as more mothers worked outside the home. Work provided women independence and personal finances. When women’s education and work became more common, they had more opportunities to impact their personal and family matters.
An individualistic society does not mean that people do not care for each other
During the past hundred years, Finnish society has become more individualistic, liberal and secular. In agrarian society, family, the village and religion were at the centre of life and life was governed by strict moral codes.
When people started working in factories and offices and moved into cities, the individual and their choices began to gain emphasis. When both men and women started to work more outside the home, the welfare state took on more responsibility for the ill, the elderly and children. People were no longer as dependent on support from family.
Now people in Finland are used to everyone being allowed to make individual choices in their life. Though people no longer have the same obligation to take care of their family, individuals bear responsibility for others by participating in the maintenance of the welfare state. This happens by paying taxes and, for example, through volunteer work. Emphasising the freedoms of an individual also contains the idea that everyone has equal rights. Because of this, for example, favouring relatives in public decisions is not accepted.
In Finland, everyone is a part of a family and other groups, such as a work community, a local community and broader society. People experience community and membership within these groups. Everyone also has moral obligations as a member of these groups.
Nowadays everyone in Finland has the right to decide about their relationships
An individual’s freedom of choice is also apparent in relationships: regardless of gender, everyone can choose their own life partner. Young people also decide independently about their relationships and they do not need to ask for permission from their parents or other relatives. Many Finns discuss their decisions with family, but people typically respect the privacy of the individual and family. Relatives do not always approve of the choices of someone. This can break relationships between families in Finland as well.
An individual’s right to decide and changed notions of family and relationships have transformed families. It is common for people to have multiple partners during their life. People often also date for a long time before moving in together or getting married. A functional relationship and love are considered important foundations for happiness, and happiness is considered an important foundation for family.
Often people think that what people want is a long and committed relationship between two people. However, it is becoming more common especially for young adults to choose other ways to live. Some choose to live alone without a partner.
Nowadays, people can more freely choose different forms of relationships. These include open relationships and polyamory. These mean different types of arrangements where partners decide that they can have intimate relations with others than their own partner or have multiple partners at the same time. It is still most common for people to want to live in traditional two-person relationships.