Tekijät

• Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA)

Asiasanat

COVID-19, European integration, bacterial and virus diseases, birth rate, happiness, occupational life, public finance, social inequality, social problems, values

Sisällön kuvaus

The study charted Finnish people's values and attitudes. The themes of the Autumn 2020 survey included the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, financing the welfare state, happiness, equality, birth rate, and social problems.

First, the respondents were presented with a variety of attitudinal statements concerning, among other topics, the Government's actions to combat COVID-19, politics, employment, reliability of information, and alcohol use.

Next, the survey examined the respondents' attitudes towards rebalancing public finance after the COVID-19 pandemic. Opinions on financing the welfare state were also charted with various questions. For instance, it has been said that financing the welfare state requires that Finns must work more/longer in the future than they do at present, one way or other. Relating to this statement, the respondents were asked to evaluate whether several ways of achieving the goal of making Finns work more/longer were good or bad (e.g. increasing the number of weekly working hours or making it more difficult to take early retirement or get disability pension).

Everyday well-being and happiness were also surveyed. The respondents were asked how happy they were at present and how satisfied they were with various matters, such as their income level, relationship status, and opportunities to influence in society. Questions also focused on what the respondents thought contributed to a happy life, for instance whether they thought that good relationships, health, social respect, interesting hobbies, or spirituality were prerequisites for happiness. Several questions charted views on equality and inequality among Finns (e.g. the presence of gender, generational, regional and occupational equality/inequality in Finland).

Views on the reasons behind the low birth rate in Finland were examined next (e.g. whether the respondents thought unemployment or general uncertainty contributed to the low birth rate). The respondents were also asked which policy means they thought might be effective in increasing the birth rate. Social problems were examined with questions on whether the respondents had personally experienced or otherwise closely witnessed problems such as anxiety or depression, bullying, substance addiction, problem use of alcohol, or gambling problems, during the past few years. Finally, the respondents' views were surveyed regarding the impact of Donald Trump and his administration on, for instance, the global status of and respect for the United States. Opinions on Finland's EU membership and the euro as Finland's currency were also examined.

Background variables included gender, age group, size of the respondent's municipality of residence, region of residence, employer type, employment status, type of employment contract, occupational group, employment sector, trade union membership, political party preference (which party the respondent would vote for), self-perceived social class, and annual income of the respondent's household.