* The birth of our son cost us a total of $50. That was parking fees and a bed for me in the same room as my Partner. Who had a 30 hour labor and an emergancy C-Section.
* For the first couple of weeks we had a nurse coming over and checking up on the health of my partner and son. Organized and paid for by the goverment.
* Both myself and my Partner got 3 months maternaty/paternaty leave. Then another 3 months to split. And we could take that however we wanted. I ended up work 20hours a week for the first month.
* Once our son was a little older and was going to Daycare, he was sick, a lot! I wasn't at work for more than 3 days a week for the first 3 months. I went to my boss to appologize and offer to take holiday days or something, and he laughed at me and said "No! I knew this was going to happen, your a new parent, look after your child!".
* Kids as young as 5 and 6 would walk to school, in the snow, by themselves.
That contrasts with my experiance in Australia:
* Its illiegal for my son to walk to school by himself, before he's ~12
* It cost us as much per week for daycare in Australia, as it did per month in Iceland.
IMHO, this comes down to a sociatal prioritization and allocation of resources. When countries invest in their children, they are investing in their future.
I see a lot of primary school kids walking to school without parents here in Sydney.
For the record the birth of our daughter which involved emergency c-section cost $0. We had multiple home visits in the first 3 months some purely focused on things like breast feeding techniques. Additionally all vaccines and checkups were $0.
My partner had 6 months paid maternity (albeit from her company). The daycare sickness is not country specific - if your boss has kids then they get it.