13.07.2015 Views

Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

D1.2 Previous Effects Of The Silver WaveCombined, these demographic trends have created a significant “surge”in the graph of population size versus age. As the Silver Wave ages, it movesalong the graph, placing stress on various aspects of the Finnish welfaresystem. Although the ageing of the Silver Wave population presents a significantstrain to the Finnish welfare system, retirement is not the first timethat the system has felt the effects of the Baby Boom generation’s size.As the Baby Boomers entered the work<strong>for</strong>ce in the 1960's and 70's, theyalso created substantial pressures. Internal migration in Finland increaseddramatically as the population moved to towns and urban centres in searchof work. This trend reached a high point in 1974, when over 275,000 people(nearly 6% of the country’s total population) changed municipalities. (StatisticsFinland)The labour market was unable to accommodate such a significant influxof people, so emigration from Finland also increased dramatically over thistime period: hundreds of thousands of people left Finland <strong>for</strong> Sweden. As aresult, in the mid-1970's, Finland experienced its first population reductionin over three decades (since 1940). Though emigration later ceased, Finlandhas experienced lower immigration rates than other European marketsas the Baby Boomer population continues to provide a constant source ofreadily employable labour. (Statistics Finland)D1.3 Who Are The Baby Boomers?Eventful historical developments that occurred at critical times <strong>for</strong>the Baby Boomers seem to bind them as a generation. The radical socialchanges of the 1950's and 60's have cast them as a generation of change orupheaval. Their generation also benefited from increasing access to education,expanding labour markets, migration towards urban centres, andsocial mobility.The Baby Boom generation is often seen to be in opposition of the moreconservative values of preceding generations. They are the first generationto embrace the openness and mobility of an increasingly global society;they lived through the expressive revolutions of the twentieth century.Baby Boomers are also defined by conspicuous consumption. They havelived primarily in times of economic growth, full employment, and increasingmaterialism. The Baby Boom generation grew up in world defined bythe engine of consumption, and as a result they have been able to successfullyexploit the agency that is attached to consumer choice.Finally, it is worth noting that the Baby Boomers are the first childrenof the social welfare system. The Finnish welfare system developed lockstepwith the Baby Boomers, the first generation to receive child benefits; the285

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!