Tekijät

• State Youth Council
• Finnish Youth Research Society. Finnish Youth Research Network

Asiasanat

European integration, adolescents, immigration, national identity, politics, social influence, trust

Sisällön kuvaus

Themes of the Finnish Youth Survey 2018 included Europe and influencing decision-making in society. Questions charted attitudes towards immigration and Finland's position in the European Union, trust in various institutions, and expectations for the future.

First, the respondents were asked how interested they were in politics and how much they trusted various institutions, such as the Parliament, the President, the justice system, and the police. The respondents were also asked which political party they felt closest to and how likely it was that they would vote in the 2019 parliamentary elections. Views on the EU were surveyed with questions on, for example, whether the respondents thought of Europe as a geographical region or a union of values, thought EU membership had been beneficial for Finland, and felt that the free movement of people was important. Questions charted the respondents' opinions on whether Finland should try to influence various issues during its presidency of the Council of the EU in 2019 (e.g. environmental protection, gender equality, improving EU-Russia relations). The respondents' views on politicians and political parties in Finland were also examined.

Next, the respondents were asked whether they had ever personally aimed to influence decision-making in society (e.g. by voting, through civil disobedience, through consumer choices) and how effective they thought various ways of influencing decision-making were. Views on national identity were surveyed with questions on how important the respondents thought several factors, such as having been born in Finland or being able to speak Finnish or Swedish, were for being truly Finnish. The respondents' attitudes towards immigration were also examined with statements on, for example, whether they thought that immigrants diversified Finnish culture and that most immigrants came to Finland just to profit from benefits funded by taxes. The respondents were asked how important various matters, such as material wealth, democracy, health, and peace, were for them personally, as well as how they saw their own identity (e.g. whether they felt Finnish, European, multi-cultural, foreign). Finally, views on potential causes of uncertainty and instability in the future (e.g. climate change, international terrorism, the EU collapsing) were charted, and the respondents were asked how optimistic or pessimistic they were about the future.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, municipality of residence, mother tongue, level of education, economic activity and occupational status, household composition and income, level of education of R's mother and father, and length of possible unemployment.