Europe: Finland clings to happiness crown as economic gloom deepens • FRANCE 24 English

Juo Pekka Paloma has brought his lunch to the steps of Parliament in Helsinki to draw attention to his thousandth day of unemployment. The 33-year-old is not alone. Finland has one of the worst unemployment rates in Europe at almost 10%. And more than double that for young people. In addition to high unemployment, the Bank of Finland is forecasting a shrinking economy with a decrease in growth at.1% compared to 2024. Its export-reated economy still hasn’t recovered from the collapse of Nokia after it failed to adapt to the touchscreen phone market in 2014. And its tourism and trade have been hamstrung by sanctions on neighboring Russia for its war in Ukraine. Paloma’s unemployment doesn’t seem to be isolating him. Though one contributing factor to his feeling of social cohesion is Finland sauna culture. First of all, sauna is like a place where everyone’s so equal, especially if you go to a public swimming pool and everybody’s naked. So, you cannot say uh based on someone’s appearance what they do for a living, who they are, what they do. And Finland still tops the rankings of the World Happiness Report. The rankings take several factors into account such as benevolence and positive or negative emotions, but also social support, healthy life expectancy, and low perceptions of corruption. And Finland leads in all three. Its healthy welfare state aside, Finland’s ability to absorb internal and external shocks is also a factor. To be able to deal collaboratively and constructively uh with in bad times is a great source of happiness. And so, yes, of course, Finland is very high in resilience. Just another reason that Finland seems set to be recognized as the world’s happiest country again this year.

Harsh economic headwinds are sending a chill through the world’s happiest country. But after 1,000 days of unemployment, 33-year-old Juho-Pekka Palomaa hasn’t let Finland’s problems get him down just yet.
#Economy #Finland #Happiness

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33 comments

  3. No surprises every government around the world wants to fight wars to boost dipping employment rates. Because industrial and labour market management is clearly not something politicians are capable of

  7. Finland thrived as a neutral state. Now, it has become a vassal of the West, stagnating economically and urging Ukraine to continue to battle a neighbour many times its size (a battle it is sure to lose).

  9. Finland is just so overrated in terms of their so-called happiness. Imagine having one of the highest suicide rates but claim to be "happy". 😅

  14. They closed the border with Russia, where St. Petersburg alone is as big as the entire population of Finland! Now they're surprised by the economic downturn. St. Petersburg residents used to go to Finland for the weekend and spend money. Now they'll probably just wait for Chinese tourists and show them the reindeer.

  22. Huge number of migrants are huge part of the numbers… Native rates are not that bad… Many international students with spauses can't find Works and same goes to foreign workers. Plus Ukrainians can't find work. Job market IS tight and you have to know the language. Ukrainians Will do Well when things start to get better and they learn The language…

  27. The Russian trolls have obviously found this platform. You guys don’t have to worry about Finland, we are fine on our own. Better you fix your own country first.

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