Authors

• Advisory Council for Youth Affairs (Nuora)
• Finnish Youth Research Society. Finnish Youth Research Network

Keywords

adolescents, education, expectation, future, housing, interpersonal relations, labour and employment, satisfaction, social systems, unemployment, youth

Abstract

The youth survey focused on Finnish young people's employment, education, future, social relationships, satisfaction with life, and relationship to society.

First, questions related to work were presented. The respondents were asked what they considered most important as regards work and working, whether they would like to work in the public or private sector, and what they considered the greatest obstacles to employment for young people. They were also presented with attitudinal statements on unemployment and working life. Some questions pertained to education policy. Compared to the previous Finnish Youth Surveys, there were new questions covering compulsory education age and youth education.

The respondents were asked to name the factors that influenced their choice of place of residence (e.g. the location of their school, proximity to nature). They also named the municipality or city in which they would like to live. Questions on society included topics such as foreigners living in Finland, basic income paid to all citizens, and one's own possibilities of influencing. There was also a new question on whether the voting age should be lowered.

Some questions pertained to future. The young people were asked how important they considered achieving various things (e.g. own family and children, own house, high standard of living) by the age of 35. The respondents also estimated the development of Finnish society in the future and their current social relationships. Finally, they assessed their satisfaction with life, financial situation, and health on a scale from 4 to 10.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's age, gender, mother tongue, level of education, economic activity, and the parents' level of education.