Kela 2025 baby box. Photo: Kela
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Finland’s Social Insurance Institution (Kela) has not distributed a single maternity package from the 2025 edition, due to an unexpectedly low number of births this year. Instead, families are still receiving leftover boxes from 2024, as Kela works through existing stock before moving to the latest version.
“We expect the switch to the 2025 package to happen within about a month,” said Veera Petäjä, a planner at Kela who oversees the development and procurement of the maternity grant, also known as the baby box.
The delay has prompted questions from new parents, who often anticipate receiving the most recent edition. Petäjä noted that the timeline could still shift in either direction depending on how quickly remaining stock is used.
Each year, Kela pre-orders the packages about two years in advance, basing volumes on population projections that are increasingly difficult to estimate.
In the early 2020s, birth rates briefly rose, leading Kela to plan for higher future demand. That forecast did not hold, and the 2024 maternity boxes are now being handed out well into the following year.
To avoid overstocking, Kela has scaled back its orders for upcoming years.
One solution under discussion is removing the year label from the maternity boxes altogether. Petäjä confirmed that internal conversations about the change have taken place but said no formal decision has been made.
“Yes, it’s possible,” she said. “It’s something we’ve considered from time to time, but nothing has moved forward officially.”
Currently, the boxes are branded with the year of their release, which can lead to frustration when supply delays result in families receiving the previous year’s version. The contents of the boxes, however, are always new.
“Even if it’s last year’s package, the products are not reused or outdated,” Petäjä emphasised.
She added that people often assume the newer box must be better, even though the differences are usually minimal. This perception, tied to the year branding, is part of what Kela hopes to manage by potentially dropping the date altogether.
The baby box, part of Finland’s long-running maternity grant system, includes essential items for newborn care such as clothing, blankets, hygiene products, and a sleeping nest. It has been a part of Finnish family policy since 1938.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
