[Pophealth] The Finnish Baby Box in Canada, USA, and UK.

[Dennis Raphael]

Please read and distribute this!  

Provides real insights into how progressive ideas are distorted by commercial interests, easily manipulated governing authorities, dominant societal discourses, and compliant mainstream media.

Free download until Mid-May at

https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1gpxqhNfKzQb~

A B S T R A C T
For over 80 years the Finnish state has provided expectant mothers with a cardboard box containing an extensive
collection of clothing, bathing products for the baby, nappies, bedding and a small mattress. Numerous jurisdictions have implemented it in some form. We investigated through a critical case study methodology whether its translation into the liberal welfare states of Canada, UK, and USA experienced message distortion (the box as a means of preventing SIDS), commercialization, watering down of content; and separation from the complex of Finnish welfare state policies that support families with children. We find that only Scotland and Wales recognized the decommodification and equity roles played by the baby box. This study identified numerous barriers to building progressive public policy in Canada, UK, and USA: the structures and processes of the liberal welfare state, commercial interests that skew public policymaking and media logic that limits news reporting to the concrete and simple, eschewing complex analysis.