Study title

Family Barometer 2008: Well-Being and Social Relationships

Dataset ID Number

FSD2792

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2792
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2792

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Miettinen, Anneli (Family Federation of Finland. Population Research Institute)
• Rotkirch, Anna (Family Federation of Finland. Population Research Institute)

Abstract

The survey studied couple relationships and plans to have children of Finnish adults who had at maximum one child living at home at the time of data collection. Other main themes were job characteristics, characteristics of childhood home, and self-perceived health and well-being.

First, the respondents were asked about their childhood home: number of siblings, education of parents, age of parents when had first child, and other characteristics of the childhood home (e.g. single parent family, financial problems, conflicts, illnesses). One question surveyed the importance of religion to the respondent.

A number of questions focused on the respondent's job, exploring economic activity, type of contract, hours of work, and experiences of unemployment or fixed-term employment. The likelihood of certain changes happening in work or financial situation over the next two years (e.g. unemployment, job change, beginning studies) were charted, as well as R's commitment to work and motivation for working. The survey also investigated the respondents' commitment to family, feelings about family life, and views on gender equality and roles.

Health and well-being were surveyed by asking about self-perceived health, alcohol use, symptoms of stress, anxiety and exhaustion, weight and height, type of contraception used, number of close friends, frequency of contact with parents, feelings of loneliness, satisfaction with life in general and satisfaction with certain aspects of life (e.g. job, income, friendships, family life). Feelings of control over own life and trust in other people were also explored. The respondents were asked to choose from 51 adjectives those that described them well.

The next themes covered family planning and couple relationships. Planned and unplanned pregnancies, miscarriages, abortions, trying to conceive and infertility treatments were investigated. Some questions pertained to first couple relationships, and the number of marriages and cohabitations. Characteristics of, satisfaction with and conflicts in the current relationship were surveyed. Further questions studied the number of children, their years of birth, children from previous relationships, plans to have more children and when, and whether the spouse agreed with these views. The respondents were also asked to think what kind of consequences having children would have on the couple relationship, relationships with parents and friends, meaning of life and career.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, type of the municipality of residence, current couple relationship (marriage, cohabitation, steady relationship and from which year), study field and number of persons in the household, as well as R's and spouse's mother tongue, year of birth, basic and vocational education, economic activity and occupational status, monthly net income, and number of children.

Keywords

childhood; children; families; family environment; family influence; family size; gender role; health; job characteristics; parental role; partnerships (personal)

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Family life and marriage (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social welfare policy (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Reproductive health (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Family Barometers

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Family Federation of Finland. Population Research Institute

Data Producers

• Family Federation of Finland. Population Research Institute

Time Period Covered

2008

Collection Dates

2008-02-01 – 2008-04-30

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 25-44, living in Finland and having none or at most one child aged under 18 living in the household (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

A stratified sample of 7,000 persons was drawn from the population register of Finland. The sample size for women was 3,000 but 4,000 for men to ensure a sufficient number of male respondents. So, the population was stratified according to gender (men and women), age group (25-34 and 35-44) and the number of children (those who had no children aged under 18 living in the household and those who had one such child in the household). The reason for using age groups and number of children for stratification was based on the desire to sample a sufficient number of persons in the older age group who had at maximum one child aged under 18 living in the household.

Non-respondents received two reminder letters. The latter reminder letter sent to sampled males contained a shorter version of the paper questionnaire to encourage more men to respond and they were also offered an opportunity to answer an online questionnaire instead. The online questionnaire was similar to the shorter paper questionnaire. In the end, 18 per cent of sampled males completed the shorter paper questionnaire and 2 per cent the online questionnaire.

Four filled-in questionnaires were rejected because they were incomplete or inaccurate. The responses of persons not corresponding to the target group were also rejected. The remaining total number of cases was 2,670.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

44.2

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

2.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The data on variables q48 - q58 are not reliable for male respondents due an error commited at data entry. Variables q78_1_1, q78_1_2, q78_2_1, q78_2_2, q78_3_1n, q78_3_2n, q78_3_1m q78_3_2m, q78_4_1n, q78_4_2n, q78_4_1m, q78_4_2m, q78_5_1 ja q78_5_2 have been formed so that the 'first answer' means the one number/age given by the respondent, or if s(he) has given a range of numbers/ages, the smallest number/age of the range. The 'second answer' means the highest number/age of the range given.

For reasons of privacy, the data do not contain the variable identifying the respondents' municipality of residence nor the respondents' birth month.

The data do not contain open-ended responses.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Miettinen, Anneli (Family Federation of Finland) & Rotkirch, Anna (Family Federation of Finland): Family Barometer 2008: Well-Being and Social Relationships [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-06-07). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2792

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Special Terms and Conditions for Access

Users of the data shall send Väestöliitto [Family Federation of Finland] a copy of all research publications based on or using the data. Publications shall be sent to the mail address: Väestöliitto, Väestöntutkimuslaitos, PL 849, 00101 HELSINKI, FINLAND.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Miettinen, Anneli & Rotkirch, Anna (2008). Milloin on lapsen aika? Lastenhankinnan toiveet ja esteet. Helsinki: Väestöliitto Väestöntutkimuslaitos. Katsauksia E 34/2008.

Rotkirch, Anna & Miettinen, Anneli (2013). Suuri keskustelu pienten lasten hoidosta. Teoksessa: Vuosikirja 2012 - Rohkeasti elämässä (Toim. Syrjälä, Jaana & Åberg, Ritva), 4-7. Helsinki: Väestöliitto.

Related Publications

Miettinen, Anneli & Rotkirch, Anna (2008). Milloin on lapsen aika? Lastenhankinnan toiveet ja esteet. Helsinki: Väestöliitto. Väestöntutkimuslaitos. Katsauksia E 34/2008.

Rotkirch, Anna & Miettinen, Anneli (2013). Suuri keskustelu pienten lasten hoidosta. Teoksessa: Vuosikirja 2012 - Rohkeasti elämässä (Toim. Syrjälä, Jaana & Åberg, Ritva), 4-7. Helsinki: Väestöliitto.

Happonen, Juho (2015). Sosiaalinen perimä, työttömyys ja ammattiasema. Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän yliopisto. Yhteiskuntatieteiden ja filosofian laitos. Yhteiskuntapolitiikan kandidaatintutkielma.

Häkkinen, Marie (2021). The formation of personal fertility ideals : the importance of religion and family values. Master's theses in psychology. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/37654

Golovina K, Nitsche N, Berg V, Miettinen A, Rotkirch A, Jokela M (2023). Birth cohort changes in fertility ideals: Evidence from repeated cross-sectional surveys in Finland. European Sociological Review, jcad048. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcad048

Laamanen, Viivi (2024). Changes in work and family attitudes over birth cohorts and links to childfree ideals in Finnish women and men. Master's Thesis in Psychology. Helsinki: University of Helsinki.