Study title

Finnish Perceptions of Poverty and Welfare Support 2015

Dataset ID Number

FSD3356

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3356

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kainulainen, Sakari (Diaconia University of Applied Sciences)
• Saari, Juho (University of Eastern Finland. Department of Social Sciences)
• Niemelä, Mikko (University of Turku)
• Erola, Jani (University of Turku)
• Kallio, Johanna (University of Turku)
• Kouvo, Antti (University of Eastern Finland)
• Helsingin Sanomat

Abstract

This survey, conducted by the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat in 2015, charted Finnish views on poverty and social security. The survey was conducted as part of the "Two Finlands - growing inequality" project, which in turn was part of the "Is Finland Becoming Polarized?" programme funded by Kone Foundation. The survey included two open-ended questions, q8 "Describe a person who is poor in Finland; how do you recognise a poor person?" and q9 "What kind of standard of living should a poor person settle for in Finland; what kind of life should the person have a chance at?", which received a large number of responses (q8 N:5,718 and q9 N:5,726) and can be utilised in qualitative analysis. Open-ended responses are only available in Finnish.

First, the respondents' perceptions of poverty and the reasons for poverty were charted with statements concerning, for example, whether they thought that people who are poor had bad luck, did not have the same chances in life as other people, or were lazy, and that the level of social security benefits was too low or that poverty was an inevitable part of contemporary development. The respondents' trust in other people and in authorities was examined next and several statements were presented on basic social assistance. The statements included, for instance, whether the respondents thought that most people who received social assistance really needed it or that many applied for social assistance on fraudulent grounds. The respondents were also asked whether they agreed or disagreed with several statements on social security in general (e.g. whether differences in living standards were too large in Finland, people should take more responsibility of themselves, and rich people were greedy).

Next, the respondents were asked to place their own social standing on a scale from those who are worst off to those who are best off. Challenging situations in life were examined with questions on how closely the respondents had experienced various situations, such as long-term unemployment, over-indebtedness, serious mental health problems, or substance abuse problems, during the previous two years. Questions also focused on the respondents' opinions regarding the help provided by society to various groups of people (e.g. the long-term unemployed, disabled or homeless persons, or those who were victims of violent crimes or had been lonely for a long time).

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age, income, household size, highest level of education, NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions of residence, and degree of urbanisation of municipality of residence.

Keywords

income; living conditions; poverty; social disadvantage; social security; social security benefits; social services; socio-economic status; standard of living

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Equality, inequality and social exclusion (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• General health and well-being (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Specific social services: use and availability (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Helsingin Sanomat

Time Period Covered

2015

Collection Dates

2015-06 – 2015-07

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Finnish people or people who can speak Finnish

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Availability

The questionnaire was available on the Helsingin Sanomat website in connection to an article published in the summer of 2015. The introduction to the questionnaire was displayed as follows: "How would you describe poverty? When public expenditure is cut, it is important to know what Finns think about poverty. Respond to a survey developed by Juho Saari, a professor of welfare sociology, in collaboration with a group of Finnish researchers." The final data consist of 9,529 respondents after duplicates (159 responses) were removed.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

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

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification of individuals, detailed location variables, such as postal code, NUTS4 sub-regional units, municipality, and municipality code were removed from the data. Variable bv4, denoting the largest municipalities in Finland (over 67,000 inhabitants) was created at FSD based on the municipality variable. Additionally, variable q11 denoting the respondent's age and variables q14 and q15 denoting household size were top-coded. Open-ended variables q8 and q9 were reviewed and, if necessary, anonymised by removing identifiers, such as email addresses, rare illnesses, and specific job titles. Changes made at FSD were marked with [square brackets].

Duplicates (159 responses) were removed from the 9,687 responses delivered to FSD.

Weighting

The data contain a weight variable [paino] which aids in calculating a weight for the data (NUTS3 region/age/gender). If the variable label contains "0" instead of a NUTS3 region, the respondent lives abroad.

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

Kainulainen, Sakari (Diaconia University of Applied Sciences) & Saari, Juho (University of Eastern Finland) & Niemelä, Mikko (University of Turku) & Erola, Jani (University of Turku) & Kallio, Johanna (University of Turku) & Kouvo, Antti (University of Eastern Finland) & Helsingin Sanomat: Finnish Perceptions of Poverty and Welfare Support 2015 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2020-09-17). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3356

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

Mutanen, Annina (2016). "Raha ratkaisee, se mittaa syvyyden myös kumarruksen..." : Suuri- ja pienituloisten näkemyksiä köyhyydestä. Sosiologian pro gradu -tutkielma. http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uef-20160642

Nykänen, Anna-Stina (2015). HS kysyy: Millaista köyhyys sinun mielestäsi on? Helsingin Sanomat 28.6.2015. https://www.hs.fi/sunnuntai/art-2000002832523.html [viitattu 12.8.2020].

Related Publications

Sosiaaliturvariippuvuus: sosiaalipummit oleskeluyhteiskunnassa? (2017). Toim. Saari, Juho. Tampere: Tampere University Press. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-0366-2

Mutanen, Annina (2016). "Raha ratkaisee, se mittaa syvyyden myös kumarruksen..." :suuri- ja pienituloisten näkemyksiä köyhyydestä. Itä-Suomen yliopisto. Yhteiskuntatieteiden laitos. Sosiologian pro gradu -tutkielma. http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uef-20160642

Honkalampi, Jaakko (2021) Kotitalouden käytettävissä olevien tulojen yhteys näkemyksiin toimeentulotuen ansaitsevuudesta. Pro gradu -tutkielma. Yhteiskuntatieteiden ja kauppatieteiden tiedekunta, Itä-Suomen yliopisto.