1. Craig Christensen August Bonds

2.  Birth rates are declining  Elderly Dependency Ratio is increasing  In general, the countries are under populated  Nordic countries are mostly pro-natalist in their policies.

3.  Most countries give monthly payments to families with children. Families with several children get larger payments ◦ Ex. Åland  Families with one children receive 100€/child/month  Families with three children receive the equivalent support of a family with four children.

4.  Governments provide free daycare in most countries  More daycares are building more child-care facilities. ◦ Ex. Norway set its goal to provide full kindergarten coverage in 2007. (link)link

5.  Notes: most Nordic countries have a policy on maternal and paternal leave.  Generally, full pay, and comparatively long leave time allowed in the world. ◦ Ex. Sweden  480 days (16 months) of paid maternal leave (80% up to a ceiling the first 390 days, 90 days at flat rate) - shared with father (dedicated 60 days). Both parent has the right take an additional 18 months unpaid leave. (Wikipedia.com) ◦ Ex. Denmark  52 weeks maternal leave. 18 to be taken by the mother, 2 weeks by the father, the rest as they see fit.(wikipedia.com) ◦ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_leave http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_leave

6.  In some countries, the government can help people obtain and support families to obtain a loan when building a home, buying, etc. ◦ Ex. Åland: Governments will co-sign loans, and bail out families if they fail to pay back the money in entirety.

7.  Policies of Immigration in countries can vary considerably ◦ In Åland, the government highly encourages migrants to come. Governments support immigrants with documentation. ◦ In Norway, the policy is “Quality, not Quantity” (http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/disp lay.cfm?id=307)http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/disp lay.cfm?id=307 ◦ In Denmark and Sweden, many asylum seekers are allowed in, but troubles with integration policies have caused gradual increase in restriction over the last decades.

8.  Availability of contraceptives ◦ Most clinic provide these drugs free of charge for the population, providing them in regular clinics.  Abortions ◦ Legal in all states, but generally on provided free in cases such as rape, underaged pregnancy.