Finland’s model shows respect for all

I just returned from a trip to Finland to visit old friends. I brought home a bill from a hospital.

You may wonder how these two things connect. The bill from the hospital was for a friend of mine. She needed a new hip. So for five days in the hospital, the surgery, the surgeon’s salary, the artificial hip, and all the necessary care and medicine, she paid $224. That’s it. Period. No co-insurance , no donut hole for prescriptions, no premium, no co-pay.

The Finnish government takes care of the health care bill, and insures secure retirement pensions, at about 60 percent of your best five years of income. The government enables family leave to care for your kids for their first years of life, as well as child care with well-paid and educated teachers and caregivers. Of course there is free universal K-12 education, which is ranked the best in the world. University education is paid for, and includes a living stipend. As a worker, you get at least five weeks of vacation. Everyone gets universal paid sick days.

Some people would argue that such a system would push down economic activity. In Finland, this foundation of security enables private business activity. The World Economic Forum ranks Finland as the third most competitive economy in the world, ahead of the U.S. Grant Thornton, a worldwide giant in business auditing, ranks Finland fifth in the world, thanks to its “business operating environment, economics &growth, science &technology, labour &human capital, and financing environment.”

Human values have helped to create this state of happiness, work and progress. Respect is one such value, universal in Finland. Respect for each other, from the person who settles your bill at the store, to the taxi driver, to the school teacher, to the small business entrepreneur, to the member of parliament, to the elite of big business. Respect is apparent and expected and it crosses occupations, income and education. Another element is a Finnish word which we seldom use here anymore: “yhteistyötä,” which means cooperation, community, coordination, solidarity. Listen to Finns talking, and “yhteistyötä” comes up over and over again. They know that they are all in this together.

Solidarity and respect are expressed in national policies for which everyone pays, with taxes, and through which everyone gains a certain strong sense of economic wellbeing. The uncertainties of life that we shoulder in America are replaced with the knowledge that everyone’s basic needs — be that health care, retirement, child care, university, technical school — will be there, for you, for your neighbors, for your children, for your brothers and sisters.

Finns know that this kind of system is not free. Pretty much everyone pays 20 percent of their income in taxes, and this can go up to 50 perecent for incomes above $100,000. Everyone pays sales taxes, as much as 24 percent for things like televisions. Health insurance payments are 1.1 percent of income. Social security payments are about 5 percent. Add all these payments together and the average Finn pays more in taxes than the average American. And gets a lot more back in return: the certainty of health care, retirement income, day care for young children, family leave, care for the old and ill, early childhood education and university as well. It is not all completely paid for by taxes, but the public portion makes the private costs much lower. Child care costs about $300 a month for an upper-income family. Mothers and fathers receive 80 percent of their compensation when they care for an infant. That partial compensation drops to 60 percent if the parent continues to care for her child at home for a second and third year.

Respect, cooperation, paying taxes and having a government that works for you. We can achieve all this in our own state and country as well. We have the history, knowledge, income and economic dynamism. We started the New Deal for Social Security. We enacted the GI bill so soldiers could gain higher education. We established Medicare so old people would have health care. As Americans, we value family, hard work and looking out for each other. If we just stretch ourselves some, we can realize life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, for all of us. We won’t have to look across the ocean.

John Burbank is the Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute (www.eoionline.org). Email john@eoionline.org

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Sunday, July 13

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Authorities search for victims among the rubble near Blue Oak RV park after catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on Sunday, July 6, 2025. The half-mile stretch occupied by two campgrounds appears to have been one of the deadliest spots along the Guadalupe River in Central Texas during last week’s flash floods. (Jordan Vonderhaar/The New York Times)
Editorial: Tragic Texas floods can prompt reforms for FEMA

The federal agency has an important support role to play, but Congress must reassess and improve it.

FILE — The sun sets over power lines in rural Ward County, Texas on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Republicans plan to terminate billions of dollars in clean energy tax credits. Experts say that will mean more greenhouse gas emissions and more dangerous heat. (Paul Ratje/The New York Times)
Commentary: Bill will deliver dirtier energy at a higher price

Cuts to clean energy policy in the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will stifle our energy transition and cost us more.

Tufekci: ‘Garbage in, garbage out’ behind AI’s Nazi meltdown

That Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot defaulted to internet hate speech is concerning. Our acceptance is scarier.

Everett mayoral candidate had a role in budget problems

A mayoral candidate in Everett is being dishonest, blaming his opponent for… Continue reading

Social Security email was a false and partisan use of agency

I was appalled to get a spam email from the Social Security… Continue reading

Thanks for help with driver’s license renewal

I am writing to say that I was able to obtain my… Continue reading

2024 Presidential Election Day Symbolic Elements.
Editorial: Retain Escamilla, Binda on Lynnwood City Council

Escamilla was appointed a year ago. Binda is serving his first term.

A Volunteers of America Western Washington crisis counselor talks with somebody on the phone Thursday, July 28, 2022, in at the VOA Behavioral Health Crisis Call Center in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: Dire results will follow end of LGBTQ+ crisis line

The Trump administration will end funding for a 988 line that serves youths in the LGBTQ+ community.

toon
Editorial: Using discourse to get to common ground

A Building Bridges panel discussion heard from lawmakers and students on disagreeing agreeably.

Comment: Reforms to involuntary committment law can save lives

Washington state should consider changes New York made to protect those who can’t protect themselves.

Comment: Medicaid reforms will keep it for those most in need

Beyond the ‘sky is falling’ claims, the BBB’s reforms to Medicaid are fair and necessary to save it.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.