As someone who has a one year old, this isn't unique to Finland. In the UK we have (more accurately in many places, "had", given our current government's propensity to slash funding to public...
As someone who has a one year old, this isn't unique to Finland. In the UK we have (more accurately in many places, "had", given our current government's propensity to slash funding to public services) children's centres which provide similar services; libraries which have both spaces for an organised events such as bounce and rhyme (sing songs with your baby, hang out with other parents after) and general kid-friendly areas where you can just spend time hanging out. There are loads of kid-friendly cafes and other private businesses which do similar things. It's a good business model, because what else are you going to do during the day when a lot of your potential customers are at work? The Children's Centre and Library events are better because they're free, and there is training for the staff to advise on various childcare issues, as well as provision for baby weighing, access to literature and even a food and nappy bank for when you're having a very difficult time financially (I try to always leave a pack of nappies when I can afford to because I can't imagine the stress of not being able to afford those).
I had no idea these support networks existed until I needed them, and I'm so grateful they do. Getting out of the house and being near adult humans is so important. These things are, as the article mentions, almost exclusively "mum" spaces which is a bit weird for me as a father, but people are generally nice and I've never really felt anything other than welcomed. We have met people through these schemes who will likely be friends for life, and having friends with similar age children is really helpful when it comes to organising play dates and so on. The kids need kids of their own age to socialise with, even when that age is counted in months rather than years.
Interestingly, apart from the immediate mental health benefits to the users, the existence of Children's Centres correlates with reduced crime in an area, and nobody really knows why. But of course we can't go around spending money on services for poor people. Even if it is actually cheaper in the long run.
As someone who has a one year old, this isn't unique to Finland. In the UK we have (more accurately in many places, "had", given our current government's propensity to slash funding to public services) children's centres which provide similar services; libraries which have both spaces for an organised events such as bounce and rhyme (sing songs with your baby, hang out with other parents after) and general kid-friendly areas where you can just spend time hanging out. There are loads of kid-friendly cafes and other private businesses which do similar things. It's a good business model, because what else are you going to do during the day when a lot of your potential customers are at work? The Children's Centre and Library events are better because they're free, and there is training for the staff to advise on various childcare issues, as well as provision for baby weighing, access to literature and even a food and nappy bank for when you're having a very difficult time financially (I try to always leave a pack of nappies when I can afford to because I can't imagine the stress of not being able to afford those).
I had no idea these support networks existed until I needed them, and I'm so grateful they do. Getting out of the house and being near adult humans is so important. These things are, as the article mentions, almost exclusively "mum" spaces which is a bit weird for me as a father, but people are generally nice and I've never really felt anything other than welcomed. We have met people through these schemes who will likely be friends for life, and having friends with similar age children is really helpful when it comes to organising play dates and so on. The kids need kids of their own age to socialise with, even when that age is counted in months rather than years.
Interestingly, apart from the immediate mental health benefits to the users, the existence of Children's Centres correlates with reduced crime in an area, and nobody really knows why. But of course we can't go around spending money on services for poor people. Even if it is actually cheaper in the long run.