Study title

Welfare and Services in Finland 2006

Dataset ID Number

FSD2886

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2886

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Moisio, Pasi (National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES))

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Nieminen, Markku (Statistics Finland)
• Nyberg, Riina (Statistics Finland)

Abstract

Welfare and Services in Finland is a panel survey that combines telephone and face-to-face interviews, postal surveys and register data. The aim of the study is to offer up-to-date, reliable and extensive research data on Finnish welfare and the use of welfare services. In 2006, the data were collected through telephone interviews. This dataset concentrates on Finnish adults. Main topics included well-being, social relationships, health, use and accessibility of health services, use of and satisfaction with social services, informal care, social security, and social trust.

Well-being was charted with questions focusing on the standard of living and housing. The respondents were asked whether they were able to save money and pay their expenses, how they thought the economic circumstances of the household would develop in the near future, whether the household could afford certain things (e.g. buy new clothes rather than used ones), and how satisfied they were with different aspects of their housing and neighbourhood of residence.

Social relationships were investigated with questions about satisfaction with life, leisure time and work, feelings of loneliness, contacts with friends and relatives, membership of a club or association, and voting in the previous parliamentary elections. Relating to health and health services, questions were asked about health status, limiting long-term illnesses or disabilities and their effects on daily life, stress, pregnancies, and visits to a doctor or nurse in the previous 12 months. Further questions probed where the respondents would primarily try to get a doctor's appointment during daytime, whether they had received sufficient care for health problems, what the distance to the closest health centre, doctor's office, dentist's office etc. was from their home, and whether they had had to wait unreasonably long to receive treatment (e.g. to get a doctor's appointment in a health centre). Dental health and visits to a dentist were surveyed.

Views on social services were charted by asking whether the respondents trusted the skills of social services staff, whether they thought claiming a benefit would be difficult for them, whether they would be entitled to different services and benefits if needed, whether social services functioned well or needed improvement, and to what extent various services should be developed in the municipality. Use of social services was investigated with questions surveying contacts with the social services in the previous 12 months, sufficiency and quality of the aid or service received, waiting time for the aid or service, and satisfaction with the services.

With regard to informal care, the respondents were asked whether they assisted an aged, disabled or sick friend or relative. Distance from their home to this person, and type and frequency of help offered were investigated.

Views on social security were surveyed with questions on the level of social security in Finland, the relationship between taxation level and social security, preferable ways of providing health and social services (i.e. private or public), and the extent to which tax revenue should be used to fund services. Some statements charted trust in other people.

Background variables included, among others, the size of the household and number of children in the household as well as R's gender, year of birth, marital status, economic activity, employment status, occupation, and type of employment contract. In addition, there are register variables containing information on region (NUTS3), statistical grouping of the municipality of residence, disposable income of the household, hospital district, and level of education (3-level ISCED classification).

Keywords

family policy; health; health policy; health services; home help; housing; informal care; living conditions; social networks; social security; social services; social welfare; standard of living; welfare policy; well-being (health)

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Health care services and policies (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Specific social services: use and availability (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social welfare systems/structures (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Welfare and Services in Finland

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

• Nieminen, Markku (Statistics Finland)
• Nyberg, Riina (Statistics Finland)

Time Period Covered

2006

Collection Dates

2006-08-21 – 2006-11-03

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 18-79 residing permanently in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Longitudinal: Panel

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Systematic random

The study uses a rotating panel. Half of the respondents were randomly sampled from the population database of Statistics Finland and the other half from among the previously sampled persons (for the 2004 survey) who had expressed their willingness to participate in future surveys. 4,350 respondents participated in the survey.

Collection Mode

Telephone interview

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

83.7

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: English and Finnish.

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

Number of Cases and Variables

171 variables and 4530 cases.

Data Version

2.0

Weighting

The dataset contains weights that correct for the bias caused by non-response. Sampling weights for both persons and households have been created by using a calibration method. The starting point for this method is the creation of a base weight, i.e. the inverse of a sampling unit's inclusion probability. In calibration, the base weights were adjusted so that certain known distributions of the population could be estimated without errors by using the new, so-called calibration weights. The calibration corrects for the effects of the coverage error caused by both non-response and ageing of the panel members. The person weights were calibrated by age (5-year grouping), gender, statistical grouping of municipalities (rural, densely populated and urban municipalities), and region. The household weights were calibrated by household size and region (with the capital area as a separate region). There are two expansion weight variables and two sampling weight variables in the data. The expansion weights BV8A and BV9A expand the data to represent the population. The sampling weights were scaled from the expansion weights so that their means are 1.00 and that they sum to the number of respondents.

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

Moisio, Pasi (National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES)): Welfare and Services in Finland 2006 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-09-27). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2886

Deposit Requirement

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

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

Suomalaisten hyvinvointi 2006 (2006). Toim. Kautto, Mikko. Helsinki: Stakes.

Related Publications

Palomäki, Liisa-Maria (2013). Eläkkeelle siirtyminen ja subjektiivinen taloudellinen hyvinvointi. Tulomuutosten ja toimeentulokokemusten tarkastelua. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka 78 (4), 378 - 394.

Moisio, Pasi (2007). HYPA 2006. Hyvinvointi & Palvelut -kyselyn 2006 aineistokuvaus. Helsinki: Stakes. Stakesin työpapapereita 33/2007. URN:NBN:fi-fe201204193732

Suomalaisten hyvinvointi 2006 (2006). Toim. Kautto, Mikko. Helsinki: Stakes.

Suomalaisten hyvinvointi 2008 (2008). Toim. Moisio, Pasi & Karvonen, Sakari & Simpura, Jussi & Heikkilä, Matti. Helsinki: Stakes.

Kallio, Johanna (2008). Yksityisten lääkäripalvelujen käyttö ja ideologiset tekijät. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka 73(5) 477 - 492.

Moisio, Pasi & Rämö, Tuomas (2007). Koettu yksinäisyys demografisten ja sosioekonomisten taustatekijöiden mukaan Suomessa vuosina 1994 ja 2006. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka 72(4) 392 - 401.

Kautto, Mikko & Palomäki, Liisa-Maria & Rantala, Juha & Tuominen, Eila (2009). Eläkeläisten tulot ja kokemukset toimeentulosta. Yhteiskutnapolitiikka 74(3).

Kouvo, Antti & Kankainen, Tomi (2009). Sosiaalista pääomaa rakentamassa vai purkamassa? Suomalaiset hyvinvointipalvelut ja yleistynyt luottamus. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka 72(4) 392 - 401.

Suomalaisten hyvinvointi 2014 (2014). Toim. Vaarama, Marja & Karvonen, Sakari & Kestilä, Laura & Moisio, Pasi & Muuri, Anu. Helsinki: Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-302-015-3