Twenty-eight years ago I wrote in a Finland Bridge column about the greying of Finland. Even if Finland has the third-oldest population in the world after Japan and Italy. Has anything changed since 1997 and what are the solutions to our demographic woes?
Some far-fetched solutions I suggested back then was to raise the retirement age to over seventy and to cut pension benefits to near-starvation levels.
Isn’t that were we are heading?
The fact that Finland has opposed migration and cultural diversity tooth and nail, means that today we have one of the smallest migrant populations in the world, according to MoveHub. It’s clear that we are paying a high price economically and socially for doing nothing, or very little, to invite migrants to the country.
I wrote in the column that “turning Finland into a gerontrocracy will not benefit anyone. It will signify the demise of this nation.”

Source: Statista
Setting aside our propensity to scapegoat migrants, especially Muslims and those from outside the EU, we have to rethink who we are and foster a new sense of citizenship and inclusion.
Here are my suggestions for an about-turn in citizenship and inclusion:
- “Being” Finnish means being from a multitude of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
- Since all ethnic groups in Finland have a history, we must remove the whitewash they have undergone.
- Teach anti-racism from comprehensive school.
- Teach children not to hate and that difference is normal.
- Draft new laws recommended by the European Commission Against Racism
and Intolerance (ECRI) to tackle social ills like racism and hate speech. - More studies are needed on racism and Islamophobia in particular.
- Mainstream media should use minorities in stories about them.
- Promote cultural and ethnic diversity in civil servant jobs, like the police, in
a concerted effort to dismantle institutional racism. - Racism is a crime that and is punishabe by law. It is a shameful act.
- Parties that promote racism, like the Perussuomalaiset,* and whose members have ethnic agitation convictions should be prohibited from holding office.
Do you like to sare some suggestions to the above?
