Study title

Finnish Youth Survey 2021

Dataset ID Number

FSD3979

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3979
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3979

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Finnish Youth Research Society
• Ministry of Education and Culture. State Youth Council

Abstract

In the 2021 Youth Barometer, the main themes are environmental and climate issues. The survey explores young people's values, climate-related behavior, and perceptions of environmental issues in Finland.

At the beginning, young people's societal and ideological views were examined through various dimensions. Lifestyles and civic engagement were addressed by asking respondents for their opinions on various statements related to climate and the economy, and how much things such as voting, consumer choices, and activism can influence environmental matters. Respondents also described their own environmental behavior by reporting what kinds of actions they had taken in the past six months.

Respondents were asked where they had obtained information about environmental issues. Finally, the survey explored young people's views on a sustainable future, and how optimistically or pessimistically they perceive the future.

Background variables in the dataset include the respondent's gender, age, mother tongue, region of residence, belonging to a minority group, economic activity and occupational status, education level, household income, and the education level of the mother or another parent.

Keywords

attitudes; climate change; environmental awareness; environmental changes; sustainability; values; youth

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Youth (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Environment and conservation (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Youth Surveys

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• IROResearch

Time Period Covered

2020 – 2021

Collection Dates

2020-12-22 – 2021-03-08

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 15-29 living in mainland Finland

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Mixed probability and non-probability

The target group of the Youth Barometer study consisted of young people aged 15 to 29 living in mainland Finland. For the telephone interviews, a random sample of 77,700 young people was drawn from the population register, of whom 40,179 had at least one phone number available. Of these, 15,419 individuals (38%) were reached, and among them, 717 were either outside the target age range at the time of the interview or were excluded due to quota limits. A total of 1,900 interviews were conducted, resulting in a response rate of 13% for this year. However, since the survey was conducted via telephone interviews, it is not possible to calculate an unambiguous response rate. There are multiple reasons for non-response: some refused to participate, some did not answer the phone at all, and some were reached but not interviewed due to full quotas. The declining response rate and the increasing number of refusals in telephone interviews have been a known and long-standing issue in the Youth Barometer.

Of the interviews conducted, 65 were so-called pilot interviews, used to test the length of the questionnaire. The pilot interviews were necessary to ensure that the interviews can be conducted within the allocated time and budget. After the pilot phase, the questionnaire was shortened. Since the structure of the pilot interviews did not fully match the final version, these interviews were excluded from the dataset. The final dataset consisted of 1,835 interviews. The number of interviews was quota-sampled based on age, gender, mother tongue, and region of residence, using information provided by the respondents. The purpose of quota sampling was to balance the proportions of different respondent groups to reflect their share in the population and to ensure sufficient responses from hard-to-reach groups. Once a quota (e.g., for 15-19-year-olds) was filled, no further respondents from that group were contacted or interviewed. The interviews were conducted between 22 December 2020 and 8 March 2021, with an average duration of just over 23 minutes. The interviews were conducted in Finnish and Swedish.

Collection Mode

Telephone interview: Computer-assisted (CATI)

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, the researcher has removed open-ended variables from the dataset.

The postal code and municipality variables have been removed from the dataset by the FSD to ensure data anonymization.

65 pilot responses were removed from the dataset because the respondents were asked questions that were later excluded from the final questionnaire due to its excessive length.

Weighting

The dataset includes a weighting variable, WG2, which allows the data to be weighted by age, gender, and region of residence.

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

Finnish Youth Research Society & Ministry of Education and Culture: Finnish Youth Survey 2021 [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2025-06-04). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3979; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3979

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

Kestävää tekoa. Nuorisobarometri 2021 (2022). Toim. Tomi Kiilakoski [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: valtion nuorisoneuvosto, Nuorisotutkimusseura ja opetus ja kulttuuriministeriö. https://tietoanuorista.fi/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/nuorisobarometri-2021-web.pdf [viitattu 4.6.2025]

Related Publications

Kestävää tekoa. Nuorisobarometri 2021 (2022). Toim. Tomi Kiilakoski. Nuorisotutkimusseuran/Nuorisotutkimusverkoston julkaisuja 237, verkkojulkaisuja 169. Valtion nuorisoneuvoston julkaisuja 69. Helsinki: Valtion nuorisoneuvosto & Nuorisotutkimusseura & opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö.

Valtion nuorisoneuvosto (2022) Valtion nuorisoneuvoston politiikkasuositukset. Nuorisobarometri 2021. Helsinki: Valtion nuorisoneuvosto.