Family Life in Estonia and Finland

Abstract

The Socialist Republic of Estonia and Finland, a capitalist market economy, are geographically and culturally close to each other Family life in these societies, representing different social and economic systems, was studied on the basis of official statistics and by interviewing representative samples of both populations. The investigation is part of the official scientific coop eration in sociology between the USSR and Finland which started ten years ago Family life is in some ways more traditional in Estonia than in Finland: there are more extended families, children, formal marriages and divorces, and, until recently, less unmarried cohabitation The division of domestic work in educated families is less even, and children spend more leisure time with their parents. In both countnes almost all adult women are employed outside the home. In some respects, life in Finland is more traditional than in socialist Estonia For example, paid work is more sex-segregated in Finland than in Estonia In Estonia, people believe more in the possibilities of women succeeding in life just as well as men, and the personal efficacy of Estonian women is much higher than that of Finnish women. These aspects of the position of women in society at large have an impact on family life. In young families in Helsinki there is more rapport and less intimacy need satisfaction than in Tallinn Finnish husbands are as happy in their marriage as Estonian husbands, but receive less social support with their wives.