Pregnancy policy’s The United States Should be Adopt
In the United States the average first year of a child will cost the family about $12,000 (Harris). The mother of the child has twelve weeks of leave after the baby is born (Zintl). Some parents will be unable to afford their child’s first year. In this event, government based organizations will help these families. Finland has a different perspective on children, pregnancy, and family finances. The United States should adopt some of Finland’s prenatal, and after birth ideas to create less stress with new parents and babies here in the US.
The First policy seen in Finland that should be adopted by the US is the amount of leave the women gets for having the baby. Finland offer both maternal and paternal leave. Jennifer Chait (writer of an article titled Finland’s Family Benefits Prove Why it’s Ranked the Number One Place to be a Parent ) states that, ”In Finland, women are allowed to start maternity leave 50 working days at the earliest and 30 work days at the latest before the estimated date of delivery.” The women gets to decide when the leave is taken and the government pays her leave up to Four months (Chait). The country does this so the parents can focus on being parents. This is why they offer paternal leave as well as maternal. The United States offers very little maternal leave and it’s usually not paid leave. Many people in the US would say that Finland’s maternal leave is unconscionable and that paternal leave is ridiculous and unneeded. However, Finland’s government wants every child to be born with virtually the same opportunities. This is why they offer both maternal and paternal leave. They also offer these to “rainbow families” and adoptive families (Chait). The baby box was introduced in Finland around the 1930’s to make sure that babies of all backgrounds and financial differences could start life at ”an equal start in life” as stated by Helena Lee in her article titled Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes. …show more content…
Through the years these boxes have changed with the times. For example, before the 1950’s the boxes included sewing supplies and fabric for mothers to make their children clothing. Now the box includes premade clothing that can be bought in stores as well (Lee). Other items in the box include: winter clothing, mattress pad, sleeping bag, diapers, baby hygiene items,…etc.(Lee).the box itself is often used as a crib for the baby(Beck). Americans may complain about their child not being unique or not getting certain products they like because very child born in that year gets the same baby box. Finland’s government however offers another option to parents. This option is to receive a money grant rather than the box. The cash grant is at about 140 euros which is about 156 American dollars (Lee). Most medical needs for both mother and child in Finland are free. This includes prenatal care and the first year after the baby is born. They started this after World War II when they wanted babies to grown into strong adults to increase their military (Kapanen). Maternity clinics offer all ultrasounds needed as well as suggested dietary plans and other information to help mothers during
In the United States the average first year of a child will cost the family about $12,000 (Harris). The mother of the child has twelve weeks of leave after the baby is born (Zintl). Some parents will be unable to afford their child’s first year. In this event, government based organizations will help these families. Finland has a different perspective on children, pregnancy, and family finances. The United States should adopt some of Finland’s prenatal, and after birth ideas to create less stress with new parents and babies here in the US.
The First policy seen in Finland that should be adopted by the US is the amount of leave the women gets for having the baby. Finland offer both maternal and paternal leave. Jennifer Chait (writer of an article titled Finland’s Family Benefits Prove Why it’s Ranked the Number One Place to be a Parent ) states that, ”In Finland, women are allowed to start maternity leave 50 working days at the earliest and 30 work days at the latest before the estimated date of delivery.” The women gets to decide when the leave is taken and the government pays her leave up to Four months (Chait). The country does this so the parents can focus on being parents. This is why they offer paternal leave as well as maternal. The United States offers very little maternal leave and it’s usually not paid leave. Many people in the US would say that Finland’s maternal leave is unconscionable and that paternal leave is ridiculous and unneeded. However, Finland’s government wants every child to be born with virtually the same opportunities. This is why they offer both maternal and paternal leave. They also offer these to “rainbow families” and adoptive families (Chait). The baby box was introduced in Finland around the 1930’s to make sure that babies of all backgrounds and financial differences could start life at ”an equal start in life” as stated by Helena Lee in her article titled Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes. …show more content…
Through the years these boxes have changed with the times. For example, before the 1950’s the boxes included sewing supplies and fabric for mothers to make their children clothing. Now the box includes premade clothing that can be bought in stores as well (Lee). Other items in the box include: winter clothing, mattress pad, sleeping bag, diapers, baby hygiene items,…etc.(Lee).the box itself is often used as a crib for the baby(Beck). Americans may complain about their child not being unique or not getting certain products they like because very child born in that year gets the same baby box. Finland’s government however offers another option to parents. This option is to receive a money grant rather than the box. The cash grant is at about 140 euros which is about 156 American dollars (Lee). Most medical needs for both mother and child in Finland are free. This includes prenatal care and the first year after the baby is born. They started this after World War II when they wanted babies to grown into strong adults to increase their military (Kapanen). Maternity clinics offer all ultrasounds needed as well as suggested dietary plans and other information to help mothers during