Tekijät

• Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA)

Asiasanat

COVID-19, European integration, bacterial and virus diseases, international relations, local taxation, public finance, trust, vaccination

Sisällön kuvaus

The study charted Finnish people's values and attitudes. The themes of the Spring 2021 survey included the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, COVID-19 vaccines, public finance, and trust in various influencing bodies in Finnish society.

First, the respondents were presented with a variety of attitudinal statements concerning, among other topics, the Government's actions to combat COVID-19, municipal decision-making, public services, Finland's relations with Russia, and immigration. The respondents were also asked how much they trusted various influencing bodies in Finnish society (e.g. the church, the justice system, political parties, the EU, social media).

Various questions examined the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondents were asked whether they thought different measures and restrictions imposed for the purpose of preventing the spread of COVID-19 had been or would be too strict when considering the situation at the time of the survey. Remote working was also surveyed, and the respondents were asked whether they thought the COVID-19 epidemic was threatening to their own health and livelihood as well as the health and livelihood of Finns in general. The survey charted whether the respondents had contracted COVID-19 themselves, whether they knew someone who had contracted COVID-19, and whether they or someone they knew had been hospitalised because of COVID-19. The respondents' estimates of when coronavirus restrictions would be lifted in Finland were also examined.

Attitudes towards the coronavirus vaccine were surveyed with questions on, for example, whether the respondents thought that the vaccine was safe or that it had been developed and tested too quickly and whether they felt they had received enough information on the vaccine. The respondents were asked whether they had already been vaccinated against COVID-19 or were planning to get the vaccine, whether they thought that other people in their municipality would get vaccinated, and whether they had received enough information about vaccinations from their municipality. Additionally, the respondents' opinions were examined on whether Finland's approach to procuring the coronavirus vaccines had been appropriate.

Views on Finland's public sector finances were charted with questions on local taxation and the rebalancing of public finance. Finally, the respondents were asked about their current views on Russia and their attitudes towards Finland's EU membership and the euro as Finland's currency.

Background variables included gender, age group, size of the respondent's municipality of residence, region of residence, level of education, 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.