Family and Hope in Finland

Abstract

This article reports on a survey regarding the importance of family life in contemporary Finland. The “sacred” character of the domestic sphere is interpreted as a feature that generates and sustains hope and meaning in everyday human life. While marriage and procreation rates decrease in Scandinavian societies, family and home values are nevertheless given a high priority. The article also claims that many current philosophical and theological explanations of hope are outdated. New approaches to hope are needed to understand how ecological matters shape the evaluation of home and family.