The food queues in Helsinki are getting longer and longer. Most of the people collecting their food supplies are pensioners and people living alone. When there is no work, there is no money.
According to poverty research, a whole new class of underpriviledged is emerging amongst Finland's poor. There are now over 700,000 of those who earn less than 60 percent of the average income. And the number of those who earn less than half of the average income is rising.
During a recession the average wage goes down, which largely explains the sorry situation. It still leaves a challenging task for Finland's brand task force to figure out why poverty in Finland is spreading so much faster than in other OECD countries.
The dilemma faced by many Finns living below the poverty line is whether to buy food or medication.
