A recent survey commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle and carried out by the polling company Taloustutkimus shows that Finns are most concerned about unemployment, refugees and what they see as an ineffective government.
Results show that women in particular feel unemployment is a serious problem in Finland, with 38 percent mentioning unemployment as their top worry. Among men, 33 percent felt this was Finland’s most pressing concern.
All in all, the percentage of Finnish residents rating unemployment as their main concern has grown by five percentage points since 2011, the survey showed.
Results show that men under 25 are least concerned about the lack of jobs.
“Perhaps younger people have already adapted to the idea of an uncertain labour market,” Taloustutkimus’ research director Juho Rahkonen said.
Work situation is concerning, competitiveness not so much
Similarly, when Finnish residents were asked about what the government should do to solve the problems facing Finland, the number one answer was to create more jobs. Many added that Finland should support its businesses better with, for example, tax relief.
Rahkonen says work is so important to Finns in general that he believes the so-called competitiveness agreement promoted by the government would stand a better chance of succeeding if it was renamed the “employment agreement”.
“Finns are sceptical about the competitiveness accord improving job prospects,” he said.
Government projects to create a cost-saving labour accord or reduce taxes are not among the most popular answers provided by Finnish residents in the public poll. Only seven percent think the labour accord is a decent solution, while fewer than one in a hundred supports lowering taxes.
In contrast, increasing inequality is a worry of every tenth respondent, a concern that hasn’t dissipated in the five years since the last poll. Rahkonen says the reason might be found abroad.
“The world has countries like Germany, where there is a good competitiveness level, but a significant working population that is still hovering near the poverty line. Finns wonder if they will soon be in a similar situation. Rising inequality is a larger concern than global competitiveness,” he said.
Immigration suddenly a prime concern
Immigration has risen in the last five years to second-place in the ranking.
Some 30 percent of Finnish residents believe that uncontrolled immigration is a problem, rising to 40 percent among young people under 25. A slightly larger percentage of women consider it a problem than men.
Pollster Rahkonen says Finland has undergone a radical change in this area in the last half a decade, as five years ago immigration was a marginal concern.
Problems related to intolerance, hate speech and hardened attitudes have also appeared during that same time, problems that respondents collectively listed as their seventh greatest concern. Five years ago in a similar survey, hate speech wasn’t even mentioned.
An end to the dithering
According to the survey, every seventh Finnish resident says disagreements between the government and other key decision-makers are a major societal concern, along with their inability to make decisions. Turns out the political lack of progress was the third most cited concern among the survey’s respondents.
Rahkonen says the Finns long for some kind of consistency.
“People are telling the government to cool down. Our leaders have perhaps been impatient and tried to achieve quick adjustments, but the state can’t be managed like a corporation. Change takes time,” he said.
Interestingly on the heels of this criticism, only four percent of the respondents feel a change of guard is necessary. Most still have faith that the current elected officials will eventually see something to the finish line.
The survey was conducted from January 21 to February 12, and resulted in a sample of 1006 responses for a margin of error of +-2.5 percentage points. Taloustutkimus carried out the survey as part of Yle’s “Finnish deeds” campaign.