Would you leave your child or baby unattended in front of a cafe or supermarket? For Finns, this is something completely normal - for example, for Ronja Pero and her daughter Elmi.
"Leaving your child outside is completely fine. Nothing will happen, other people also take care of her safety while I shop", the woman tells DW.
"We let the children try things out on their own"
The example of Ronja and her husband Erka is quite typical of Finnish families. Together with their one-year-old daughter, they live in the city of Porvoo, which is about a 45-minute drive from the capital Helsinki.
Ronja is a film producer and Erka is a hotel manager. Together they take care of the upbringing and education of the young child, as well as the household.
"I think that in Finland we have a rather relaxed approach to matters related to upbringing. We try to base everything on mutual trust and let the children try things out for themselves, even if they sometimes fail in these attempts," explains little Elmi's father.
Finland is also struggling with a low birth rate
But why are so few children born in Finland? The World Happiness Report 2025 has named Finland the country with the happiest people in the world for the eighth time. The country, which is famous for its beautiful nature, has a total of 5.6 million inhabitants. However, statistics show that Finnish women give birth to an average of 1.26 children.
"One of the factors for this is the uncertain life and the unclear future, climate change, and everything that is happening in the world now. This worries many young people," explains Ronja.
Parents in Finland receive all kinds of advice and help, as well as financial support after the birth of each child. Each parent, who has an average income for the country, receives maternity and paternity leave worth about 70% of their previous salary - for 160 days. The state also pays child benefits - for the first two children they are 100 euros.
Guaranteed kindergarten for all
Every morning shortly after 8 a.m., Ronja heads to kindergarten with Elmi. Every child in Finland who is nine months old is guaranteed a place in a preschool. Little Elmi has been attending since she was one.
The mother says that she usually takes her daughter to kindergarten, and her husband picks her up from there in the evening. The little girl loved visiting her and did not protest at all when they left her there.
Elmi spends her time in kindergarten from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Many of the daycare centers in Finland also offer 24-hour care for the children of those parents who work shifts or whose profession requires them to travel a lot. Parents pay a fee for raising their first child, which depends on their income, but is never more than 311 euros per month.
The teacher at Elmi's kindergarten says that children learn everything during play - for example, how to treat each other, how to act independently and how to tolerate separation from their parents. In Finland, girls and boys spend a lot of time outside - in the fresh air. "We work a lot with music to make it easier for children to learn the language, we teach them to read and we often sing songs," says the teacher, Otti Avikainen.
What is the key to happiness?
There are days when little Elmi stays home for lunch. Then her afternoon nap is also outside - in the garden in front of the house. The child is dressed in winter clothes and sleeps in the stroller, and a baby monitor under his jacket measures his body temperature and sounds an alarm when he wakes up. And all this under the open sky, even when the outside temperature in Porvoo is minus two degrees.
Elmi's mother says that it is typical for Finland for children to sleep outside, simply because fresh air is the best way to sleep. Living in nature is one of the great happiness factors for Finns. Ronja and Erka also enjoy the time that the young parents spend together. They want their daughter to feel happy one day too.
"I think we are honest and sincere with each other, and that makes us happy," says Ronja. Her husband adds something else: "We have never owned many things, we live modestly and are happy with what we have. We enjoy the little things in life."
Honest, open and humble - that's how Ronja and Erka describe themselves. For many Finnish parents, this is the key to happiness.
Author: Hendrik Veling