Many Finns say they are fine about mixing with people from other ethnic or language backgrounds, according to a new Yle survey, but a sizeable minority say they would rather not.
The Yle-commissioned survey was conducted by Taloustutkimus. It found that a majority of people in Finland were quite happy to mix with people of different ethnic or language backgrounds in their everyday lives.
Nearly 1,300 residents of Finland were asked about their attitudes in certain situations.
In one section, the survey asked people about their attitude when booking an appointment with a doctor, with 27 percent saying they would rather see a physician who had the "same language" name as them.
Some 73 percent, on the other hand, said the doctor's background made no difference to them.
In another section, 35 percent of respondents said that they would rather rent out a flat to someone with the same ethnic background as theirs. The opposite view — that the tenant's ethnic background made no difference to them — was held by 64 percent of respondents.
Daily life and backgrounds
People were happier for their children to mix with others from different backgrounds. Only 13 percent said they preferred their children to have playdates with kids of a similar ethnic background.
This means that 86 percent said the child's ethnic background did not matter, while one percent of respondents said they preferred to have their child play with others from a different ethnic background to their own.
Shopping trips were a more accepted multicultural experience, according to the survey. Some 96 percent of respondents said that checkout staff of a different ethnic background made no difference to them.
Four percent said they would prefer someone from the same background as theirs, while one percent said they would rather use a cashier from a different background.
The survey suggests that people do not mind so much who they sell goods to in online marketplaces. Just seven percent of respondents said they would prefer to sell to someone with the same language name, while 92 percent said the buyer's name made no difference to them.
Source: Yle survey using an online Taloustutkimus panel between 15-8 August. The survey was answered by 1,290 people aged 18-79 living in mainland Finland. The margin of error is +-2.9 percentage points. The numbers are rounded off, so their sum is not necessarily 100 percent.
16.11: Headline clarified.
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