Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

Government assistance to Finnish students (in the form of tuition,housing, meals, healthcare, etc.) is generous. The benefits and lifestyle itaffords an individual can have the unwanted consequencesStudents are taking longer to complete their degreesCompleted lower and higher university degrees in 4 years 32,50%… in 8 years 63,80%Completed first polytechnic degree in 4 years 39,40%… in 7 years 69,70%Young people are waiting longer before starting a family:Year 1981-85 2007SourceStatistics Finland,Progressof Studies2007Mean Age for Marriage:Men 26,2 30,6Women 24,2 28,5Mean age of mother at first birth: 25,4 28D2.5 Cultural Institutions of Finnish Youth ExperienceSourceFinnishYearbook ofPopulationResearch2009Religious confirmation, the matriculation examination, and mandatorymilitary service are three institutions of Finnish culture that unify broadsegments of the youth population. Each one falls under a different aspect ofnational culture and identity—religion, education and military—and yet allthree serve a meaningful purpose in creating a common and shared experiencefor many Finnish youth, lasting well into adulthood.ConfirmationReligion plays a relatively minor role in contemporary life in Finland,and yet 80.7% of entire nation identify themselves as members of the EvangelicalLutheran Church of Finland. Confirmation is the religious a rite ofpassage for a young Christian to declare one’s faith in the church and markshis or her entry into adulthood and full membership into the local parish.Families typically celebrate a child’s Confirmation much like a baptism,graduation, or a wedding.Confirmation training in Finland precedes the religious ceremony andis open to everyone, no matter one’s family background. Finland boasts thehighest rate of participation for all countries where the Lutheran denominationis observed, with 89% of all fifteen year-olds electing to participate.The curriculum is left largely to local parishes, but it requires eightyhours of religious instruction and lasts a minimum six months. For mostyoung Finns, it is the lure of the seven-day camp experience, typically heldin the summer during the school vacation that is the primary motivation166