Authors

• Kainulainen, Sakari (Diaconia University of Applied Sciences)
• Niemelä, Mikko (University of Turku. Department of Social Research)

Keywords

costs, housing, income, satisfaction, social inequality, social security benefits, unemployment, well-being (health)

Abstract

The study charted Finnish opinions on welfare and inequality. The study was as part of a project entitled Tackling Inequalities in Time of Austerity (TITA) funded by the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland (decision number: 293103).

First, the respondents were asked about their life satisfaction, mood, ability to achieve things, perceived status in society and trust in other people.

Regarding income and personal finance, net income of the household and the ease of covering usual expenses with the income was surveyed as well as the monthly costs incurred by debt. The respondents were asked whether their parents had been unemployed or received social security benefits when they were in their teens and whether the respondents themselves had received social assistance in the previous year.

The respondents were asked how much they cared about the well-being of different groups (e.g. the homeless, immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, children in poor families, the elderly). The respondents were presented statements about whether the differences in income, health, neighbourhoods and education were too high in Finland. A number of statements about social assistance (the social security benefit of the last resort) were presented. Finally, the respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with statements about their own welfare and well-being.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth, household composition, housing tenure, education, economic activity and choice of political party.