Sanna Marin
(born 1985)
“We have work to do.”
Years in political office: 2013–present
Position: prime minister of Finland, 2019–present; minister of transport and communications, 2019; member of Parliament, 2015–2019; head of Tampere’s city council, 2013–2017
Party affiliation: Social Democratic Party
Hometown: Helsinki, Finland
Top causes: fighting climate change, access to childcare, and LGBTQ rights
Life Story
Sanna Marin learned about equality—and what happens in its absence—from an early age. After her mother and father split, the future prime minister’s mother began a relationship with another woman. Marin grew up living with the two in the southern Finnish town of Tampere and refers to her home as a “rainbow family.” She remembers feeling that she couldn’t openly discuss her home life with others because of a homophobic stigma. The experience left Marin convinced of the importance of fighting for equal rights for all.
The family struggled financially at times, and Marin delivered magazines and worked as a cashier when she was a teen. Later, when she was appointed leader of Finland’s government, a far-right politician from Estonia mocked her for her industriousness, dismissively calling her a “sales girl.” His remarks did not seem to trouble Marin.
“Here, a poor family’s child can educate themselves and achieve their goals in life,” she tweeted in response.
Marin got a university degree in administrative sciences and then ran in her first election for Tampere’s city council when she was just twenty-two. By the age of twenty-seven, she had been named head of the council. In 2015 she became a member of the Parliament of Finland representing the Social Democratic Party, and in 2019 Marin was named the country’s minister of transport and communications.
It wasn’t long before she started to serve in the country’s highest leadership position. In 2019 Prime Minister Antti Rinne was forced to step down. One of the political parties in Rinne’s coalition announced it had lost confidence in his ability to lead after he poorly handled a labor dispute with postal service workers. Because Marin was one of Rinne’s favored political protégés, the Social Democratic Party called on her to succeed him.
Her selection as prime minister at the age of thirty-four made Marin one of five woman leaders among EU countries. She’s far from the only young woman running things in Finland. In 2019 voters elected a record number of women in the country’s parliamentary elections. At the time of Marin’s appointment, all five of the country’s major political parties were headed by women, and all but one of them were younger than thirty-five! In fact, Finland has a long history of granting women equal representation in politics. It was one of the first countries in the world to give women full voting rights and let them run for Parliament, landmarks that happened all the way back in 1906.
When Marin became prime minister, her daughter, Emma, was only two years old. The politician’s husband and parents stepped up to take over Emma’s childcare while mom was running the country.
What’s on Her Agenda
Though some of her critics say she is too uncompromising on her leftist views to be a truly effective leader, Marin’s support for the social welfare state keeps with Finland’s traditionally progressive politics. But that’s not to say that her term will be without its challenges. Many labor conflicts in the country threaten to disrupt Finland’s day-to-day operations. The rise of the far-right anti-immigrant populist Finns Party could also prevent her from advancing her progressive political goals.
One issue that Marin tackled early as prime minister was climate change. Within the first few weeks of her term, Marin headed to a two-day summit where EU political leaders were set to discuss how the EU could become carbon neutral, or how the countries would eliminate as much carbon dioxide as they emit, by the year 2050. There, she expressed her concern on global environmental issues. “We have to do more, we have to do it faster,” urged Finland’s new leader.
Awesome Achievements
- She is the youngest person ever to lead Finland and its third woman prime minister.
- Marin received kudos from women leaders the world over when she was appointed head of government, including Hillary Clinton (page 22), who hailed the country’s new female-led administration.
- As transport and communication minister, Marin was vocal about her goal to reduce the Finnish workweek to four days a week, six hours a day. “Some may think it sounds utopian and unfeasible. . . . But people thought the same about five-day work weeks and eight-hour workdays,” she told the press.
Quotables
“We have promised change. Now we need action.”
“I have lived in a welfare state and am grateful for how society gave me support in the tough times of my life.”
“[I] never thought about my age or gender. I think of the reasons I got into politics, and those things for which we have won the trust of the electorate.”
“I want to build a society where every child can become anything and every person can live and grow in dignity.”