The development of family planning in Finland from the 1960s to the 1990s

The purpose of this article is to examine the development of family planning in Finland from the 1960s to the 199Os by comparing the results from several studies representing the entire country. First we will examine ideals concerning family size and the spacing of children. We will then focus on the conditions necessary for families to realize these ideals, which will include an examination of what families know about birth control and what contraceptive methods are available to them. Finally we will assess how family size ideals were realized - did the final number of children correspond to the family size set as a goal. ln the 1960s and the 1970s Finns were already considering a relatively small family as ideal, and essentially there has been no change in this ideal. The realization of family size ideals was still hindered in the early 1970s by the scarcity of information about sexual matters and the use of unreliable birth control methods. Couples ended up with a larger family than what they had considered ideal. With the spread of reliable contraceptive methods and the increase in knowledge about sexual matters starting in the 1970s, the final number of children in a family started to correspond to the ideal at the end of the decade. At the end of the 1980s the final number of children was already smaller than the ideal. Because there are deficiencies in the comparability of the studies made at different points of time, the results presented in the article should be examined with reservations, and seen mainly as demonstrating trends at the group level

Have the aims of the Finnish abortion law been reached?

The Finnish abortion law and its development is evaluated and the grounds and aims of the law are examined. The development of the abortion situation is described. On the basis of the above the author has reached the result that the Finnish abortion law has in many ways proven itself serviceable, the rate of abortions has reached such a low level that it is difficult to find a similar situation anywhere else in Europe. Illegal abortions have practically disappeared

Väestöntutkimuksen bibliografia 1960-1964

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Family dynamics in the Baltic Sea Area

The purpose of this article is to describe family dynamics in 1970-1996 in the five Baltic Sea countries of Sweden. Finland. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In addition. France. Italy, and Poland will be included in the examination as countries of comparison representing Western. Southern, and Eastern Europe. The development which has occurred in the family formation, childbirth, and dissolution of families in the Baltic Sea countries will be examined using available statistical and research data. They will be used to discuss whether family dynamics in the Baltic Sea area reflects pan-European development and how family formation in the Baltic countries has been affected by earlier cultural and religious traditions, in addition to the impact of the Soviet system. It has been noted that, in some respects, family formation development in the Baltic Sea countries in 1970-96, concerning the development of the marriage rate, for example, has reflected pan-European development. The countries in this group are. however, quite heterogeneous in regard to their family formation development. Sweden has been a pioneer in change and Finland has usually followed behind somewhat later. In the family formation of the Baltic countries, and above all. in the age at first marriage and the age at first birth, there is clear evidence of the influence of the Soviet system. Nevertheless, there are also features of their family formation which come close to development in Western Europe more than in Eastern European countries, in general. For example, the increasing prevalence in Estonia of extramarital births is most likely a manifestation of the impact of cultural traditions. Traditions apparently have also quickened the unusually rapid change in family formation occurring in the Baltic countries after the collapse of the Soviet system