The Finnish Baby Box: From a Volunteer Initiative to a Renowned Social Security Benefit

Introduction

The ‘baby box’ is an example of a successful social policy in Finland. The benefit is officially called maternity grant (äitiysavustus), and it can be obtained as a maternity package (i.e. a baby box, äitiyspakkaus) or an alternative cash benefit. The Finnish baby box contains approximately 50 pieces of baby clothing and care items for the infant and mother. The baby boxes are provided free of charge by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) to all pregnant mothers or adoptive parents residing in Finland, and they are accepted by 95 per cent of first-time parents.

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Authors

Ella Näsi, Karoliina Koskenvuo

Additional Information

• Peer-Reviewed: yes.
• Open Access: yes.
• Cite as: Näsi, E., & Koskenvuo, K. (2022). The Finnish baby box: From a volunteer initiative to a renowned social security benefit. In C. de la Porte, G. B. Eydal, J. Kauko, D. Nohrstedt, P. 't Hart, & B. S. Tranøy (Eds.). Successful public policy in the Nordic countries: Cases, lessons, challenges. Oxford University Press. https://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/academic/pdf/openaccess/9780192856296.pdf