Family life in Finland from kindergartens, child education, language schooling and everyday life. Share information and experiences. Network with other families.
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AldenG
- Posts: 3357
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:11 am
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by AldenG » Wed Sep 02, 2009 4:32 am
oompah18 wrote: Can people afford to do this, like the "old days"? Judging by the size of houses & the fact that almost every house in our village has 2 cars (I am NOT kidding
), it doesn´t seem very likely.
One reason for the preponderance of two-income families is a simple need for income. Another is that you can't file jointly for taxes in Finland to reduce the tax rate on a single income. A family with 50K + 50K will keep significantly more of their income than a family with a single 100K income. The table on page 19 of
Taxation in Finland 2009 will show you why. It's actually an interesting little booklet. It's only a summary of the rules, not the definitive regulations themselves, but it helps you understand a lot. It's much easier to read than anything you'd find on the US IRS website.
Over a few years the difference in taxation from splitting that 100K between two lower-paying jobs rather than the traditional "executive + SAHM" could buy a second car even though cars are very expensive in Finland -- even by EU standards, not to mention US standards.
As he persisted, I was obliged to tootle him gently at first and then, seeing no improvement, to trumpet him vigorously with my horn.
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filecore
- Posts: 365
- Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:37 am
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by filecore » Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:08 pm
Not sure if this thread's still alive (since it was started in 2007 and the OP may have left the country by now...) but if you're still around, my wife has just started her maternity leave and will be at home for the next year or so - our child should be born at any point in the next month. It'll keep us busy but we'll also have free time during the day and we certainly enjoy meeting new people - I'm a Scot and she's a Finn (with excellent English skills), and we live quite close to the centre of Porvoo, so we could easily meet in Cabriole or Paahtimo some time. Let me know here, or in a PM, and we'll get something arranged!
