THE FAROE ISLANDS: CHILDREN’S WORLD IN EUROPE
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Honor the house in which you were born, the tree that gave you shade, and the village where you were raised. – Swedish Proverb A family all wearing the Faroese national costume, including the little boy in the the stroller in his Faroese hat [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.flickr.com/photos/purkil/5987935120..... https://images.app.goo.gl/LdBdumc5g9S1v1oe8] |
The Faroe Islands have one of the highest fertility rate in Europe with an average of 2.1 per woman. Even though their fertility rate has gone down in recent years, they are still the highest in Europe and they also have a high international adoption rate, where children from about 77 countries are adopted.
I will post several articles on the baby boom in the Faroe Islands before giving my thoughts.
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The family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you're inside you see that each tree has its place. – African Proverb Family ties make Faroese women Europe's top baby makers. Gunnhild Helmsdal's mailbox has six names printed on it and will soon add a seventh: having a big family is nothing unusual in the Faroe Islands where women have the most babies in Europe despite also having the highest rate of employment. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1798855273469566&id=201134319908344&set=a.677237082298063&locale=ps_AF] |
Which country has the highest fertility rate in Europe?
February 01, 2023
Ever heard of Tórshavn?
Translated from Old Norse it means Thor’s Harbor. As an exuberant Europhile, I have the place on my bucket list.
By all accounts Tórshavn is a pleasant locale, but temperatures top out at 53 degrees (12 Celsius) in the summer. It is the capital of the Faroe Islands, an archipelago of some 779 islands, skerries and rocks, of which 17 are populated. The Faroes are halfway between Norway and Iceland, 200 miles from the northernmost tip of Scotland.
This windswept North Atlantic archipelago recently grabbed headlines in the UK Telegraph: “What the Faroe Islands could teach Europe about fertility”.
While many countries are scrambling, doing anything they can think of to incentivize the bearing of children, the Faroese seem to have the desire – and will – to survive.
With the highest total fertility rate in Europe (2.3+), for the last three decades they have held steady above replacement level. This is exceptional among affluent economies. Neighboring islands aren’t doing nearly as well. Orkney and Shetland (Scotland) are respectively at 1.4 and 1.6, and the Aland Islands (Finland) are at 1.7.
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"ילדים הם שמחה" (yeldim hem simcha). The Hebrew phrase for "children are a joy" is "ילדים הם שמחה" (yeldim hem simcha). "ילדים" (yeldim) means "children", and "שמחה" (simcha) means "joy" or "gladness". Participation in the Faroese labour force is the highest in Europe, especially among women, according to local data [PHOTO SOURCE: https://phys.org/news/2018-06-family-ties-faroese-women-europe.html] |
The Faroes exception is a demographic mystery. Did postmodernism and political correctness somehow miss this North Atlantic nirvana? I wish.
Says former health minister Hans Pauli Strøm, “I’ve been monitoring the fertility rate for years and wondering when it would start to fall like in other countries. But it keeps surprising me.”
Strøm cited three reasons for the consistent above-replacement fertility. First, people living close to one another can move about easily. That in turn facilitates better family ties. Grandparents are essentially around the corner. But the third reason provides some insight into the culture:
Faroese employers are traditionally extremely accommodating towards parents. There’s a mutual understanding between employers and employees about the flexibility required for bringing up children. That means it’s widely accepted if you need to take time off to care for a sick child or leave early because they injured themselves in nursery.
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Children are a poor man’s wealth. – Danish Proverb [PHOTO SOURCE: https://images.app.goo.gl/NbMe8rtH35ncCmnD9 ..... https://x.com/mindfulmonk42/status/554389569677041664] |
Sounds like traditional family values are prevalent. Childcare is inexpensive. There is a full year (52 weeks) of family leave when a child arrives. Generous childcare payments are indexed to income.
All this is financed through high taxes like the rest of Scandinavia. Seems like the Faroese are getting their money’s worth back from the government.
A mother of three who moved to the Faroes from Denmark had this to say:
My employer has never questioned me or made comments such as ‘really, again?’ if I had to stay home with a sick child. They even host regular Christmas and summer parties for the kids. It makes me want to be flexible in return too.
Family-friendly policies are not new to the Faroes, thus there are no frantic state interventions to stave off societal collapse.
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“Mothers write on the hearts of their children, what the world’s rough hand cannot erase.” – Amish Proverb A mother is a gardener of God, tending to the hearts of her children ~ Amish Proverb Faroese woman with 2 children in traditional clothing. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.dolphinproject.com/blog/of-motherhood-and-mercury/] |
There is also rising cultural consciousness. The islands were settled in the 9th century by Vikings; male descent is thus 87 percent Scandinavian. Female (mitochondrial) descent is 84 percent Celtic. Faroese youth actually put down their phones, don national dress on holidays and heartily embrace their heritage.
The Faroes are unique in many ways, demographically and otherwise.
Life expectancy is high: 79.9 for men; 84.4 for women.
Unemployment is less than 1 percent. Almost 90 percent of working-age folks are actually working, the highest rate in Europe.
The Faroes have the world’s highest adoption rate in proportion to the population (50,000). Ten to fifteen children are adopted every year from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
There has been a significant emigration of young people, mostly to pursue higher education. Traditionally, fewer women return than men. This gender deficit led to an organized matchmaking initiative, ultimately bringing some 300 southeast Asian brides. But now the population is adding more females than males. One reason: it has become “cool” to attend the first-rate University of the Faroe Islands.
The political situation is even more fascinating. As a self-governing Danish territory, the Faroes are a country in all but name. They issue passports and their own currency, the Faroese Króna, pegged to the Danish Krone. They have their own license plates and postage stamps, and in 2005 were ceded autonomy in foreign relations. Unlike Denmark, they are not part of the EU, and maintain strong trading relations with Russia.
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Earth’s most endangered species [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1184948133427248&set=a.247088550546549] https://www.heritage.org/education/commentary/baby-bust-will-soon-reshape-public-schools |
But back to the family-friendly aspect. Former health minister Strøm:
There’s not a feeling that you have put your life on hold to have kids. You can almost live life as you want even if you’re also having to bring up children.
That’s good to hear. Maybe Mr Strøm didn’t mean it this way, but his comment speaks volumes about today’s world. First, you don’t “put your life on hold to have kids.” Kids are your life. It’s called family life. Today people put family life “on hold” to pursue careers and creature comforts. This leads to fewer children and families.
The same goes for “You can almost live life as you want even if you’re also having to bring up kids” [emphasis added]. How about living life “as you want” being family life – rather than something couples are “having to” do?
But let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. There is good news from the Faroes, a place where it seems that affluence does not conflict with family. The rest of us could learn from that.
https://www.mercatornet.com/which-country-has-the-highest-fertility-rate-in-europe
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The Faroe Islands has had the highest birth rate in Europe for decades, with around 2.5 children per woman, according to World Bank figures (June 19, 2018) [PHOTO SOURCE: https://phys.org/news/2018-06-family-ties-faroese-women-europe.html] |
June 19, 2018
Family ties make Faroese women Europe's top baby makers
by Pierre-Henry Deshayes
The Faroe Islands has had the highest birth rate in Europe for decades, with around 2.5 children per woman, according to World Bank figures
Gunnhild Helmsdal's mailbox has six names printed on it and will soon add a seventh: having a big family is nothing unusual in the Faroe Islands where women have the most babies in Europe despite also having the highest rate of employment.
The economically prosperous and autonomous Danish territory in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean has had the highest birth rate in Europe for decades, with around 2.5 children per woman, according to World Bank figures.
In the rest of Europe, women usually give birth to less than two children on average, its data shows.
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Faroe Islander Gunnhild Helmsdal (L) is awaiting the birth of her fourth child which will bring her family up to seven, including her husband and his daughter from a previous relationship (June 19, 2018) [PHOTO SOURCE: https://phys.org/news/2018-06-family-ties-faroese-women-europe.html] VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJbnK4ycJUI |
When Helmsdal, 41, gives birth to her fourth child a few weeks from now her family will grow to seven members, including her husband and his daughter from a previous union.
"Children are the greatest gift of all, I think. I've always wanted to have several kids," Helmsdal, who is a doctor, tells AFP at her home.
"Large families are maybe a bit chaotic but, in the end, happy families," she says, with a smile while her two-year-old son Brandur seeks her attention. His name means "sword" or "fire" in the Old Norse language.
Her two neighbours, who live across the street in this residential area of Hoyvik, near the capital Torshavn, have six and seven children respectively.
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Every child is a thought in the mind of God, and our task is to recognize this thought and help it toward completion. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/737521] BLOG: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2023/07/140th-birthday-for-eberhard-arnold-july.html |
Family ties make Faroese women top baby makers in Europe
Jun 19, 2018
Gunnhild Helmsdal's mailbox has six names printed on it and will soon add a seventh: having a big family is nothing unusual in the Faroe Islands where women have the most babies in Europe despite also having the highest rate of employment. The economically prosperous and autonomous Danish territory in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean has had the highest birth rate in Europe for decades, with around 2.5 children per woman, according to World Bank figure
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJbnK4ycJUI
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Babies getting christened in Vesturkirkjan Lutheran church [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1130824852415032&set=pb.100064625831950.-2207520000] https://www.folkakirkjan.fo/en/christening https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/isolated-faroe-islands/ |
Shortage of women
The archipelago has long suffered from a deficit in women as many have emigrated since World War II and not returned.
The trend has changed in the last five years as the job market, which was historically heavily focused on fishing, has diversified.
Faroese society, traditionally dominated by conservative values, has also become more liberal—same-sex marriage was legalised on July 1, 2017.
When asked about the reason for its remarkable fertility rate, locals often jokingly say: "There's nothing else to do here."
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Babies getting christened in Vesturkirkjan Lutheran church [ALBUM SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/vesturkirkjan/posts/pfbid0pT2mZY2xAFpaZ2EVuf6Sy16FSwmUMo3trD7juSGHY1onDHrY48QUPXC2AdNpFbVtl] https://www.folkakirkjan.fo/en/christening https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/isolated-faroe-islands/ |
However, the throwaway remark does not reflect the reality: participation in the Faroese labour force is the highest in Europe, especially among women, according to Hans Pauli Strom, a sociologist at Statistics Faroe Islands.
For a long time after WWII women tended to leave the Faroe Islands but the trend has started to change in the last five years with a diversification of the job market
Eighty-three percent of the Faroese hold a job, compared to 65 percent in the European Union—of which the territory is not a member—and 82 percent of Faroese women work, compared to 59 percent in the bloc.
More than half of Faroese women work part-time, Strom said, adding that "it's not because they're struggling to find a full-time job but a preference and a life choice".
Local authorities highlight favourable social measures to partly explain the phenomenon: a 46-week parental leave, which authorities want to extend to one year, abundant and affordable kindergartens and tax allowances, among others.
Incidentally, taxes on seven-seat vehicles were reduced a few years ago.
Before a recent diversification, the labour market in the Faroe Islands was traditionally heavily focused on fishing
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Babies getting christened in Vesturkirkjan Lutheran church [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1130811695749681&set=pb.100064625831950.-2207520000] [ALBUM SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/vesturkirkjan/posts/pfbid0pT2mZY2xAFpaZ2EVuf6Sy16FSwmUMo3trD7juSGHY1onDHrY48QUPXC2AdNpFbVtl] https://www.folkakirkjan.fo/en/christening https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/isolated-faroe-islands/ |
SOS families
Faroese family policies may seem generous compared to the rest of Europe, but they are not very different from the measures in place elsewhere in the Nordic region, where fertility and labour activity are significantly lower.
So what is the secret to their formula?
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Faroese Family celebrating Ólavsøka [PHOTO SOURCE: https://sabinapoulsen.com/en/olavsoka-the-most-important-day-in-the-faroe-islands/] |
The Faroese have an extremely strong family bond and they live very close to each other, making it easier to get extra help from relatives, say sociologist Strom, as well as residents.
"In our culture, we perceive a person more as a member of a family than as an independent individual," Strom said.
Participation in the Faroese labour force is the highest in Europe, especially among women, according to local data
"This close and intimate contact between generations makes it easier to have children," he said, adding religion only played a marginal role.
Working up to 50 hours per week at her own medical practice, Gunnhild Helmsdal often worries she won't be able to leave on time to pick up her children.
Luckily, her parents are a last-minute phone call away from helping out and taking the children to their activities.
"Because we have such close family ties, we help each other a lot... my parents live only a five- to 10-minute walk from here, so that helps," she says with a chuckle.
https://phys.org/news/2018-06-family-ties-faroese-women-europe.html
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“A man who gives his children habits of industry provides for them better than by giving them a fortune.” ~ Amish Proverb Young boy with his father at Ólavsøka / Ólafsvaka in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dorres/32252725276/in/album-72157679115108485 ..... https://images.app.goo.gl/6qJvrUTXknT8sRfGA] |
Faroe Islands top reproducers amongst the nordic countries
February 11, 2020
Faroese women have more children than anywhere else in the Nordic countries, according to a survey from the Nordic Council of Minister. The Faroe Islands are also on top of the list when it comes to employment, Sermitsiaq writes.
Faroese women have on average 2.5 children each, which is more than any of the other Nordic places. It is the only country in the Nordics with an average birth rate of more than 2.1, which is the limit for a population to reproduce itself in the longer term.
The Faroese Islands are also on top of the list when it comes to employment, with 85 percent of the population between 15 and 64 in a paid job. The Nordic average is 79.4 percent.
In all the Nordic countries combined, including the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland, the population figure has increased from 23.2 million to 27.3 million.
https://local.fo/faroe-islands-top-reproducers-amongst-the-nordic-countries/
If you see the church in Klaksvik, Faroe Islands singing video below, notice the amount of children there are in the service.
Faroe Islands Church Singing - Klaksvík, Borðoy (28 September 2014)
A beautiful example of hearing the Faroese language sung at a Sunday school event in Klaksvík, Borðoy. It is particularly
VIDEO SOURCE: https://youtube.com/shorts/Q2E-nVfWEro?si=mwjphfyNGk1fYOyi
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“Our children are the
only treasures we can take to heaven.” [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3271956436192809&id=243558015699348&set=a.661351630586649] https://amishamerica.com/when-a-son-joins-the-amish-the-only-treasure-you-can-take-to-heaven/ https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/10/amish-baby-boom-part-1-proverbs-about.html |
MY THOUGHTS:
About 90% of the Faroese People are Christians, that is why churchgoers tend to have large families as Catherine Pakaluk wrote in her book:
“Make it easier for churches and religious communities to run schools, succor families, and aid the needs of human life. Religion is the best family policy.”
― Catherine Pakaluk, Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth
Faroese People also practiced the Four Core Values: Faith, Family, Community and Simple living. They have good family values, they are also described as child centric, having the importance of children and their well-being within the family unit. Like the Anabaptist Trio and the Israelis, it is common to see children everywhere in the Faroe Islands, including babies on strollers.
Even if their fertility rate has fallen, they have Plan B: adopting children from overseas (I will explain more on another blog). I will not be surprised if they survive the population collapse of the world.
I will conclude with this Danish saying on children:
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Children are a poor man’s wealth. – Danish Proverb [PHOTO SOURCE: https://images.app.goo.gl/XeLuMCwJdwirUVnU8] |
Let us protect our
children; and let us not allow them to grow up into emptiness and nothingness,
to the avoidance of good hard work, to introspection and analysis without
deeds, or to mechanical actions without thought and consideration. Let us steer
them away from the harmful chase after material things and the damaging passion
for distractions... Let us educate them to stand with their feet rooted in
God's earth, but with their heads reaching even into heaven, there to behold
truth. - Friedrich
Frobel PHOTO
CAPTION: 2 Faroese children with their parents BLOG
1: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-faroe-islands-childrens-world-in.html BLOG
2: https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-adopted-children-of-faroe-islands.html
RELATED LINKS:
The Hebrew phrase for "children are a joy" is "ילדים הם שמחה" (yeldim hem simcha). "ילדים" (yeldim) means "children", and "שמחה" (simcha) means "joy" or "gladness". Israel is the only OECD countries that have the highest fertility rate of 2.91 per woman.
From September 2023 to September 2024, about 183,000 babies were born in Israel, meaning that more than 400 babies were born per day. There was a similar case in 2022, in its annual Amish population study, the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College estimates that 1,450 Amish babies were born in Lancaster County last year. Only 145 Amish of all ages died. That population increase of 1,305 brought the total number of Amish living here to 44,315. There were more Amish births than deaths in that state.
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/12/israels-baby-boom-2024-children-are-joy.html
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/10/amish-baby-boom-part-1-proverbs-about.html
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11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” – I Samuel 1:11 (ESV) [PHOTO SOURCE: https://images.app.goo.gl/zX5j8Rx4WWTq2WJE9] Prayer for Safe Delivery O Loving Father in Heaven, Thank you for blessing us with the gift of new life. Thank you for the blessing of mothers in our lives, especially for [intention]. During this special time of preparation and waiting, we pray for the health and safety of this mother and child as well as all pregnant women and the children they carry. Please bless this mother and all mothers with a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery. Bring peace and calm to these women during labor and delivery. Help them to turn to You during these times, calling on the Holy Spirit to bring them strength. We ask that you protect these mothers, Lord, so that they may continue to nurture and care for their new babies, raising them to love and serve you all the days of their lives. Please also bless those caring for them at this time. Amen. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://lifewiththesaints.com/156/a-prayer-for-safe-delivery-prayer-for-pregnant-women/] https://www.pray.com/articles/6-prayers-for-babies-health-and-safety |
11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” – I Samuel 1:11 (ESV)
Our home joys are the most delightful earth affords, and the joy of parents in their children is the most holy joy of humanity. - Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/05/2025-mothers-day-sermons.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Faroe_Islands
The West Church
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quWwRCqv624
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