Authors

• Söderling, Ismo (Family Federation of Finland. Population Research Institute)

Keywords

attitudes, foreigners, immigrants, immigration, prejudice, refugees

Abstract

The survey studied Finnish citizens' attitudes towards immigration. The respondents were asked to estimate the number of refugees and foreigners in Finland, and to name the three biggest refugee groups. They also estimated the amount of Finns and foreigners they assumed or hoped to live in Finland in 2030. They responded to various statements revolving round the following topics: Finnish society, the amount of immigrants in Finland, the reasons for immigration, attitudes towards foreigners, preservation of immigrants' culture, employment and foreigners, immigration and economics, own cultural identity and well-being, desire to increase or decrease expenses covered with taxes, EU and Finland, significant social objectives, religiousness, equality between men and women, and assistance between the different generations of the family.

The respondents were asked to describe their attitudes towards the different nationalities and their immigration to Finland, and to estimate what kind of consequences will result from the immigration. The respondents were asked whether they themselves were planning to move, and if so, where and why. In addition, they were asked who should get the job, and who will probably get it, if the two equally qualified applicants were a hetero and a homosexual, a man and a woman, an immigrant and a Finn by birth, a smoker and a non-smoker, or a person who had chosen non-military service and someone who had done his/her national service. Finally, the respondents were asked to name the most important characteristics of a "proper Finn".

Background variables included the respondent's sex, age, marital status, current place of residence, place of birth, opinion about the residential environment, education, spouse's and one's own occupation, quantity and quality of stays abroad, number of foreign acquaintances, religiousness, household income, number of household members, number of books read within the last year, estimated number of books R owns, time spent on reading daily newspapers, and political views.