Citizens' Pulse 16/2021

The Citizens' Pulse surveys examine Finnish attitudes and opinions in the context of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Main themes in the surveys include the activity and communication of authorities, compliance with regulations, future expectations, trust, and the respondents' own state of mind. The 16th collection round of 2021 surveyed the respondents' opinions on the reliability of the information provided by various Finnish authorities (e.g. the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare) and members of various groups (e.g. health care employees, researchers) on the coronavirus crisis. The respondents were asked to evaluate how fair or unfair they thought Finnish society was at present and how well Finnish authorities (including the Government, Ministries, and other authorities such as the police and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare) had been prepared for epidemics such as COVID-19. The respondents' state of mind was examined with questions on various matters relating to health and well-being. The questions covered, for example, whether the respondents were worried about their own risk or the risk of people close to them contracting COVID-19, the availability of health care for them and people close to them for issues unrelated to COVID-19, and their own mental well-being. Additionally, the respondents were asked about their concerns in regard to livelihood and everyday life (e.g. whether they were worried about the adequacy of their income or the income of people close to them, the uncertainty regarding how long the exceptional circumstances would last, and their children's schooling). The respondents' confidence in their future and experiences of stress were surveyed, and the respondents were asked to evaluate whether an atmosphere of crisis prevailed amongst Finns. Next, the availability and findability of relevant information on the coronavirus crisis was charted. The respondents were asked to identify what sources of information they had used regularly to access information about COVID-19, and what would be their preferred sources of information about COVID-19. Compliance with coronavirus restrictions was examined by asking the respondents whether they had followed the restrictions and recommendations set by authorities for preventing transmission of the virus, including maintaining safe distances, washing hands regularly, wearing a face mask, avoiding touching the eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands, using a hand sanitiser when it was available in public places, and minimising contacts with people outside immediate family and friends. The respondents were also asked to estimate how closely other people had been following the restrictions and recommendations set by authorities, whether they had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and how necessary the respondents felt that it was to follow measures such as wearing a mask and maintaining safe distances after receiving two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Background variables included the respondent's gender, age group, NUTS3 region of residence, highest level of education, household composition, and perceived financial situation of household.