Study title

Changing Nature of Being an Expatriate Finn Survey 2020

Dataset ID Number

FSD3569

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3569
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3569

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Hovi, Tuomas (Migration Institute of Finland)
• Tervonen, Miika (Migration Institute of Finland)

Abstract

The study investigated Finnish expatriates' views of Finland and experiences of living abroad. Main topics of the survey included well-being, social networks, political participation, reasons for moving abroad, the services available for expatriate Finns, the effects of COVID-19 and Brexit on expatriate Finns, and the respondents' interest in moving back to Finland. The survey was conducted in co-operation with the Church Council/Office of the Church Council Department for International Relations, the Finland Society, the Finnish Seamen's Mission, and the Finnish Lifelong Learning Foundation.

The respondents' life situation was surveyed with questions on what their current home country was, how long they had lived in their current home country, and which factors had influenced their move to their current home country (e.g. work, studies, work of their spouse, desire to live abroad, parent' background in the target country). The respondents were also asked how long they intended to live in their current country of residence, which factors affected their intention to not live in their current country of residence permanently (e.g. their work, their studies, career insecurity, children's schooling, desire to return to Finland), and whether they had lived abroad before and for how long. Full-time studies abroad and the field of studies were also charted.

On the topic of well-being, the respondents were asked how much they enjoyed in their current country of residence, whether they had good social networks in their country of residence, and how they would describe their health at the moment. Interest in receiving welfare-related services (e.g. health care/medical counselling, housing and environment, employment and working conditions, social relationships) from Finnish providers was also investigated. Opinions on the services available to expatriate Finns from Finland were examined with questions on how well the respondents knew several organisations that offer services to expatriate Finns, what kind of issues they needed counselling or services for (e.g. taxation, social security, children's studies), and whether they thought that there were enough services available.

The next sets of questions focused on the effects of the coronavirus epidemic and Brexit. The respondents were asked whether COVID-19 or Brexit had increased their willingness to return to Finland. On the effects of the coronavirus epidemic, the respondents were also asked how COVID-19 had affected their daily life in their country of residence and whether they had received sufficient information and support from the Finnish state and expatriate Finnish organisations regarding the coronavirus situation. Additionally, the impact of Brexit on the respondents' daily life (e.g. work, studies, plans for the future, experience of belonging to their country of residence) was surveyed. The respondents' expectations and support needs in relation to moving back to Finland were charted with questions on whether they had considered moving back to Finland, why they had considered moving back to Finland (e.g. family reasons, work situation in their country of residence, political situation in their country of residence, coronavirus epidemic), and what matters they would like to receive guidance on regarding a possible move back to Finland (e.g. practical issues related to moving, benefits and services, looking for a job).

The respondents' social networks in their current country of residence and whether coronavirus had decreased their social interaction with others in their current country of residence were surveyed. Participation in different activities (e.g. Finland Society and/or Finnish Expatriate Parliament, Finnish School, expatriate Finn discussion groups on Facebook), and how important different ways to maintain contact with other Finns and Finnish identity (e.g. participating in the activities of expatriate Finnish communities, having the possibility to use the Finnish language) were investigated. In addition, the respondents' contact with and visits to Finland were surveyed by asking how often the respondents had visited Finland since moving abroad, how often they followed affairs relating to Finland, where their family members currently lived, and how they kept in touch with family members living in different countries.

Political participation was examined by asking the respondents how interested they were in politics in Finland and their current country of residence, in which Finnish elections they had voted, whether they had voted in the elections of their current country of residence, which reasons had influenced their decision to not vote if they had not voted, and which Finnish parties' candidates they had voted for. Additional questions were asked on the topics of religion and national identity. These questions covered, for example, religious affiliation, frequency of taking part in religious activities, and the importance of several factors in relation to the respondents' identity (e.g. being Finnish, being European, religion, patriotism, Finnish language, Finnish celebrations).

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age group, country of residence, country of birth (categorised), nationalities (categorised), and mother tongue (categorised).

Keywords

COVID-19; brexit; distance learning; expatriates; interpersonal relations; national identity; nationality; political behaviour; population migration; religion; travel; voting behaviour; well-being (health)

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Migration (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• General health and well-being (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Cultural and national identity (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (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

• Hovi, Tuomas (Migration Institute of Finland)

Time Period Covered

2020

Collection Dates

2020-09-01 – 2020-12-15

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Oceania

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Finnish citizens living outside Finland and persons of Finnish origin

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Mixed probability and non-probability

Respondents were recruited simultaneously through two different channels. The first was an invitation letter to a sample of people aged 18-50 who had moved abroad between 2016 and 2019 (1 000 in the Nordic countries, 1 500 in Western Europe, 1 000 in Eastern Europe, 1 000 in North America, 1 000 in Asia and Oceania, and 500 in Africa, the Middle East and South and Latin America). The sample was formed by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The sample consisted of Finnish citizens and included only one person per household. The stratified sample was supplemented by random sampling to achieve the desired sample size of 6,000 persons. Secondly, the survey was advertised through the networks of the Migration Institute of Finland and project partners, mailing lists and various social media platforms for expatriate Finns. This recruitment approach was used to reach Finns and Finnish expatriate communities who had been living abroad for longer periods of time.

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 respondents, responses to open-ended variables of the type 'other, please specify” were removed from the data at FSD, in addition to variables concerning languages the respondent used in their everyday lives, respondent's partner's country of birth, age of the respondent's youngest child, occupation, field of study, history of living abroad (countries and time periods), effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in respondent's country of residence, effects of Brexit, identification with a minority group, and what being Finnish means to the respondent. Additionally, the variables concerning the respondent's age (q1), country of birth (q3), nationality (q4), mother tongue (q6) and household size (q8) have been categorised. For open-ended variables, information on the respondent's place of residence beyond the country of residence and references to third parties and occupations have been coarsened or removed. Changes made at FSD are marked with [square brackets].

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

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

Hovi, Tuomas (Migration Institute of Finland) & Tervonen, Miika (Migration Institute of Finland): Changing Nature of Being an Expatriate Finn Survey 2020 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2022-08-15). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3569

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

Hovi, Tuomas, Tervonen, Miika, Latvala-White, Heidi (2021): Muuttuva ulkosuomalaisuus: Kyselytutkimus maastamuutosta ja ulkosuomalaisuudesta. Turku: Siirtolaisuusinstituutti.

Related Publications

Hovi, Tuomas, Tervonen, Miika, Latvala-White, Heidi (2021): Muuttuva ulkosuomalaisuus: Kyselytutkimus maastamuutosta ja ulkosuomalaisuudesta. Turku: Siirtolaisuusinstituutti. https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/publications/muuttuva-ulkosuomalaisuus-kyselytutkimus-maastamuutosta-ja-ulkosu

Nyström, Maija (2023). Antecedents of Permanent Migration of Finnish Expatriates. Kauppatieteiden pro gradu -tutkielma. Vaasa: Vaasan yliopisto.