Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)
For 75 years, Finland's expectant mothers have been given a box by the state. It's like a starter kit of clothes, sheets and toys that can even be used as a bed. And some say it helped Finland achieve one of the world's lowest infant mortality rates.
It's a tradition that dates back to the 1930s and it's designed to give all children in Finland, no matter what background they're from, an equal start in life.
The maternity package - a gift from the government - is available to all expectant mothers.
It contains bodysuits, a sleeping bag, outdoor gear, bathing products for the baby, as well as nappies, bedding and a small mattress.
With the mattress in the bottom, the box becomes a baby's first bed. Many children, from all social backgrounds, have their first naps within the safety of the box's four cardboard walls.
* https://www.nordicpolicycentre.org.au/baby_boxes
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_package
Of course it takes more than just one off tossing of money or gifts to make a real sustained impact as Finland has done:
A critical analysis of the Finnish Baby Box’s journey into the liberal welfare state: Implications for progressive public policymaking
~ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01907...
Contrary to some extremist people believe, when people receives cash they will use it to improve their family well being.
To cut basic income on the poorest of society just creates more poverty, suffering and death.
AI does not need another trillion dollars, but the poor will make this world a better place if they get that money to raise their children.
Means testing and treating recipients like criminals places burdensome barriers in front of support (e.g., costs in time, money, energy, and emotional well-being) and often costs more to administer than the cost of the assistance itself when taken too far beyond deterring/eliminating obvious fraud.
giardini•3mo ago
I would expect an increase in reported infant births (and reductions in reported infant deaths) if someone offered $1000 no-strings-attached! In fact, I'd expect a radical jump in births. And I'd expect researchers to skim off a proportion of the winnings too.
JSR_FDED•3mo ago
The article describes a randomised controlled trial, and explains the result is from better access to healthcare. What would make you happy, should they have sent you the money instead?
giardini•3mo ago
The problem is that you'd give money to people (of course, only those with an infant!9-)) in a scientific study? That is foolishness. Kenya is easily one of the most corrupt nations in the world. If you distribute money there, all sorts will get part of it: sure, go ahead but use your own money.
https://borgenproject.org/10-facts-about-corruption-in-kenya...
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001511728/...
gus_massa•3mo ago
I can imagine it's possible to falsify all the documents and create fake children, but it's not an easy task to do at a massive scale.
giardini•3mo ago
As for how you do it: pay your neighbor, who has an infant, say $20, to borrow their child for a visit to the medical center. Rinse, repeat.
gus_massa•3mo ago
Since 70 years ago, everyone here had their ID. It was a long processes, you have to go to the police station and it took a few hours, and there were even cases of repeated numbers and other stupid errors. Losing the physical ID was painful because you must repeat all the process.
Since 10 years, you pick a date and hour by internet, go and in 15 minutes you are done, and a week later you get your ID by post. It cost ~US$5, but you can try to ask for an exception if you are very poor. Or you can pay ~US$20 and get it 1 hour later instead of waiting. It's almost boring.
> As for how you do it: pay your neighbor, who has an infant, say $20, to borrow their child for a visit to the medical center. Rinse, repeat.
Fingerprints! They are not perfect, but the complete 10 fingers are reliable enough to avoid duplication. (Partial matches of 1 partial fingerprint in a crappy medium is snake oil.)