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Tony Öhberg
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One of the changes in 2019 is the tax increase on alcohol. Picture: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today

This is how everyday life is going to change in 2019.


Alcohol

Alcohol is going to become more expensive; the retail prices are going up about one percent because of . . . —you guessed it!—taxes.

The prices of soft drinks are going up, too. The prices of drinks that include sugar more than 0.5 percent are going to rise from 22 cents to 27 cents per liter because of the increase in excise tax.

Names

One can choose a foreign first name, and instead of having just three first names, one can opt for four. Peppilotta Sikuriina Rullakartiina Pitkätossu could become Peppilotta Sikuriina Rullakartiina Kissanminttu Pitkätossu.

Juice containers

Juice containers will become refundable. Juice packages made of plastic, glass or aluminum are going to be accepted by the return systems. It’s however optional for the juice producer whether it wants to join the new recycling system.

Studying

Studying as an unemployed will become easier. A 25-year-old unemployed job-seeker can in the future study for short-term without losing the unemployment benefit.

The period of studying can last for a maximum of six months, and the studies must support professional readiness or support one’s entrepreneurship. Studying will also be counted as “activity” according to the active employment model.

5G

The construction of 5G networks will begin in Finland. The government has, as one of the first countries in Europe, awarded licenses for the 3.5 GHz spectrum allowing the construction of 5G networks. Telia, Elisa and DNA can start constructing 5G networks from the beginning of 2019. 5G is expected to improve the throughput of mobile networks by more than 20 times and the capacity up to hundred times compared to current networks.