A recent Ilta-Sanomat piece highlights a public argument over Finland’s conscript daily allowance, currently €6.15 per day during the first 165 days of service.

“The daily allowance has deteriorated if the price of a pack of cigarettes is used as the index, which is currently €9.50–€13.20,” one respondent calculates. “When I was in the army as an older conscript in 1974, the daily allowance for those serving 12 months was about 3.50 marks, which bought a pack of cigarettes and still left enough for good coffee from the canteen. Cigarettes cost 2–3 marks a pack at the time.”

Financial challenges were emphasized in respondents’ personal experiences, where conscript service was described as causing difficulties in everyday subsistence. “I would like to continue my service, but I’m not sure whether I can pay all my bills when €170 a month is not even enough for food,” one respondent says. A few respondents say they relied on savings during service. For many, financial support from parents has been necessary. Many respondents point out that the general economic situation has changed rapidly in recent years. The current daily allowance is seen as clearly insufficient relative to current prices.

Several respondents also note that conscript service is physically and mentally demanding, and cannot be compared to ordinary everyday life. “Workdays can be 12 hours long, you are outside in all weather, and you do the work practically without any supplements,” one respondent says. Many also raise the fact that service delays young people’s transition into studies and working life, which can postpone financial independence.

Read the entire piece in Ilta-Sanomat.