Well-paid and highly educated elected in the Parliamentary elections

The MPs elected in the Parliamentary elections clearly differ in their income from the candidates and persons entitled to vote, indicates Statistics Finland's survey on the social background of the candidates. In 1997, the taxable income of the elected was two-fold that of the candidates and 3.5-fold compared to the average income of those entitled to vote.

Only four per cent of persons entitled to vote had an income of over FIM 250,000 in 1997. Eighteen per cent of the candidates belonged to the highest income category, while this was the case for 71 per cent of the elected MPs.

Furthermore, highly educated people were elected to the Parliament. While 14 per cent of those entitled to vote and 41 per cent of the candidates hold a university degree, this is true for 70 per cent of the elected MPs.

A clear majority of the elected, about 60 per cent, belong to a traditional family with two spouses and children. Only one third of those entitled to vote live in a traditional family.

Nobody who was unemployed in 1997 was elected to the Parliament. At that time, 182 of the elected MPs were employed, 13 were students and 5 pensioners.

The Center Party wins in unemployment areas

In the Parliamentary elections, the Social Democratic Party lost its support evenly in different types of unemployment areas. The Center Party did best in areas with a high unemployment rate. Compared to the previous Parliamentary elections, the National Coalition Party increased its support most in low unemployment areas.

The data are based on Statistics Finland's analysis where the changes from the Parliamentary elections 1995 in votes cast for the parties are compared by means of certain variables. The analysis is based on the data of almost 2,000 constituencies.

When viewing the results by the proportion of pensioners, the Social Democratic Party lost most in areas with a low proportion of pensioners. In contrast, the Coalition Party was most successful in these areas. The Center Party increased its support in all areas, whether the proportion of pensioners was large, small or average.

The support of the Center Party also rose steadily in the areas of agricultural, industrial and service sectors. The Coalition Party was clearly most successful in service areas. The Social Democratic Party lost particularly in industrial areas and generally in areas from where it got much support in the previous elections.

Source: Statistics Finland's election result service