An optimistic account of how the Nordic countries can teach us to live easier, healthier, happier lives: a Duckworth contemporary classic, beautifully repackaged for our 125th anniversary
From childcare to healthcare, provision for the elderly to transparency of taxes, the Nordic countries are world leaders in organising society and it is no wonder Finland has been ranked among the happiest places in the world with an enviable work-life balance.And so it was a major culture shock when journalist Anu Partanen moved from her Scandinavian home to America. She quickly realised that basic activities, from buying a mobile to filing t...
At a May 2012 conference on social mobility, where experts discussed whether people worldwide were attaining a better life than their parents, Ed Miliband made a surprising quip: If you want the American dream, go to Finland. For decades, the country best known for opportunity had been the United States. No longer, said Miliband.Moving to America in 2008, Finnish journalist Anu Partanen quickly went from confident, successful professional to a...
Moving to America in 2008, Finnish journalist Anu Partanen quickly went from confident, successful professional to wary, self-doubting mess. She found that navigating the basics of everyday life was much more complicated and stressful than anything she encountered in her homeland. At first, she attributed her crippling anxiety to the difficulty of adapting to a freewheeling new culture. But as she got to know Americans better, she discovered t...
