The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life

by Anu Partanen

Nordic societies have decided to free parents from this burden as it is good for all the individuals and institutions involved: employers, parents, and—not least, of course—the children themselves. Thanks to the Nordic theory of love, every parent in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark has easy access to inexpensive, convenient day care, publicly subsidized and generally paid for on a sliding scale according to a family’s income. Access to day care begins as soon as parents complete their initial parental leaves, and day-care centers are regulated to ensure high quality. Privately run day care is certainly also available in many places, if parents prefer that option. In Finland, because parents are guaranteed the right to return to their jobs for up to three years after the birth of a child, most families opt to have one or the other parent care for their children themselves at home for the first two years, after which the vast majority chooses one of the excellent public day-care centers. Low-income families get the service for free, and high-income families pay up to a cap, which for 2016 was about $350 per month or $4,200 per year for a first child, with the incremental costs reduced for each additional child.