The new government led by the Social Democratic Party’s Antti Rinne on Monday unveiled an ambitious 200-page programme that touches upon a gamut of areas that could specifically affect the under-30 population in Finland. Here’s a lowdown on what to watch out for.
1. Job guarantee
If a young person under 25 years of age or a student under 30 is unemployed, the government will guarantee an internship or apprenticeship — this could include a workplace, work trial, training workshop or a rehabilitation program.
2. Tougher taxes on sugary drinks and alcohol
Taxes on sugary drinks and cigarettes will rise and alcohol taxes will increase moderately. According to calculations, an eight-euro cigarette packet will cost 9.80 euros after the tax hike.
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3. Compulsory secondary education
Every primary school student will have to complete secondary education i.e. high school or vocational training. The compulsory school age will be increased to 18 years.
4. Energy drink ban
Government will ban the sale of energy drinks to consumers under 16 years of age.
5. Swedish compulsory for matriculation
Government wants to strengthen the learning of another domestic language at school and aims to restore Swedish as a compulsory subject for matriculation exams.
6. Free contraception
Contraception will be provided free of charge across the country for people under 25 years of age — this is an experiment that will be reviewed at the end of the parliamentary term.
7. Fiber-optics for everyone
The government plans to build a fiber-optics network across the country, so everyone will have access to high-speed broadband. In addition, data transfer speeds will increase.
8. More vegetarian and organic food
A new national food program aims to reduce the climate footprint of Finnish food and increase understanding of food production. The proportion of vegetarian meals in schools and public offices will rise and municipalities will be encouraged to favour domestic and organic production of meat, eggs and milk.
9. Combating over-indebtedness
The term of payment default entries is to be reduced. In addition, a positive credit register will be introduced — essentially a database where lending companies can see the borrower’s outstanding loans and income data real time. The purpose is to give the lender a better chance of assessing the borrower's solvency.
10. Support for rape victims
The penal code definition of rape will expand to include lack of consent. Services and coverage of support centers for sex crime victims will be widened across the nation.
11. No tuition fees for higher education
Higher education leading to a degree to remain free of charge.
12. More sports facilities
Government plans to support the construction of sports facilities and renovation of local sports facilities, parks and outdoor trails.
13. More recycling
The new administration plans to introduce separate collection of textile waste before the 2025 deadline set in EU Waste Framework Directive, and ramp up plastic recycling.
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14. Higher gasoline prices
Lower emissions are to be taken into consideration in vehicle taxation. Taxation of fossil fuels will be increased in line with the projected increase in consumer prices — the price of petrol and diesel may rise by about five cents per litre.
15. Crackdown on child sexual offenders
Minimum sentencing to be increased especially in cases of serious sexual offenses against children.
16. Tackling discriminatory recruitment
Government plans to develop an action plan against racism and discrimination in the labour market. It also plans to look into anonymous recruitment — many people feel foreign names in applications act as a deterrent despite appropriate training and experience.
17. Equal opportunities for young athletes
Young people interested in sports will get similar access to training in vocational schools as in sport-oriented high schools.
18. Basic education for undocumented migrants
The government program plans to guarantee the right of every young person — including undocumented migrants or those in immigrant integration programs — to complete basic education.
19. Ban female genital mutilation
Government plans to secure funds to work on preventing female genital mutilation (FGM) in Finland.
20. Criminalise forced marriages
Proposed plans aim to abolish and criminalise forced marriages.
21. Media literacy to combat false news
The aim is to prevent the spread of disinformation by teaching media literacy in schools and youth centres and helping kids protect themselves from online risks. There are also plans to support responsible journalism on digital platforms popular with youngsters.
22. Reduce attractiveness of payday loans
Regulations on consumer- and quick-loans to be tightened and plans to reduce the attractiveness of consumer credit by curbing aggressive marketing.
23. Reducing gender pay gap
Plans are on the table to increase wage transparency to reduce the pay gap between women and men.
24. Families and work
The administration is considering legislation that will prevent pregnancy and parental leave from jeopardising fixed-term employment.
25. Gender neutrality in personal ID
Gender identification will be abandoned during the renewal of personal identification.
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26. Transgender law revamp
Transgender laws will likely be amended so that people who choose to have gender reassignment surgery won’t have to undergo medical sterilisation. In addition, medical treatments are to be juridically differentiated from gender reassignment procedures. However, adults will still be able to apply for gender reassignment.
27. Ban on child cosmetic genital surgery
Cosmetic, non-medical genital surgery of very young intersex children will be abandoned to protect their autonomy.