Home > Statistics > Municipal elections > 2012 > Nomination of candidates and background analysis of candidates > 1. Background analysis of candidates in Municipal elections 2012

1. Background analysis of candidates in Municipal elections 2012

In the following review, persons entitled to vote and background information on the candidates nominated by the parties are examined against diverse statistical data. The data on persons entitled to vote derive from the voting register established on 12 September 2012 and the data on the candidates from the candidate register set up on 27 September 2012. The background data are based on statistical data from Statistics Finland’s Population Statistics Department, such as population, employment and family statistics and the Register of Completed Education and Degrees.

The candidates differ in their age and sexual structure from all persons entitled to vote. Considerably fewer of the candidates are aged 30 or under and 70 or over than the persons entitled to vote, and more of the candidates are men than women. This should be taken into consideration when comparing the candidates with persons entitled to vote. In the tables and figures of this analysis the data are not age-standardised. Standardisation would slightly lower the difference between the candidates and those entitled to vote for example when comparing the level of education, main type of activity, family status and socio-economic group among the candidates and persons entitled to vote.

1.1. Candidates and persons entitled to vote by sex

Majority of candidates men

A total of 37,125 candidates were nominated for the Municipal elections. This is 1,384 fewer candidates than in 2008. Nearly all parties have a lower number of candidates than in the previous Municipal elections. Only the True Finns and the Green League were able to nominate more candidates than in the 2008 elections. In the 2008 elections, the True Finns had 1,840 candidates, now in the 2012 elections 4,394 candidates. The Centre Party of Finland has the highest number of candidates, 8,401, although the total number of candidates fell most in that party. (Table 1.)

Table 1. Number of candidates by party in Municipal elections 2012 and 2008

Party	2012	2008	change, number	change, %
Candidates total	37,125	38,509	-1,384	-3.6
True Finns    PS	4,394	1,840	2,554	138.8
Green    League    GREENS	2,299	2,192	107	4.9
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	1,870	1,921	-51	-2.7
Swedish    People's Pty    in Finland    RKP	1,350	1,407	-51	-4.1
Finnish    Social    Democratic Pty    SDP	6,987	7,702	-715	-9.3
National    Coalition Pty    KOK	6,874	7,628	-754	-9.9
Left Alliance    LEFT	3,506	4,112	-606	-14.7
Centre Pty    of Finland    CENT	8,401	9,977	-1,576	-15.8
Communist Pty    of Finland    SKP	304	362	-58	-16.0
Others	1,140	1,368	-228	-16.7

Women make up 38.8 per cent of the candidates. The majority, or 51.4 per cent, of the persons entitled to vote are women. The proportion of female candidates fell by 1.6 percentage points from the 2008 Municipal elections. Only the Green League has more female than male candidates (56.8 per cent). The Christian Democrats have the second highest number of female candidates, as their proportion of women is 45.3 per cent. The proportion of women is around 40 per cent in the Coalition Party, the Centre Party and the Social Democratic Party. The percentage of female candidates is lowest among the True Finns, only 23 per cent, and in the Communist Party of Finland, 33 per cent.

The percentage of female candidates is highest in the region of Uusimaa, at 41.9 per cent, and lowest in South Ostrobothnia, at 36.0 per cent.

Figure 1. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by sex in Municipal elections 2012, %

1.2. Candidates and persons entitled to vote by age group and average age of the candidates by party

The average age of the candidates is now around one year higher than in the previous elections. The average age of male candidates is now 49.8 years and that of female candidates 47.0 years. Female candidates are, on average, nearly four years younger than female voters, whereas male candidates are more or less of the same age as male voters. The average age of persons entitled to vote has risen by nearly one year since the previous Municipal elections. On the day of the election the average age of persons entitled to vote is now 48.1 for men and 50.8 for women.

The age structure of the candidates is very different from that of persons entitled to vote (Figures 2 and 3). The age pyramid of neither group is no longer a pyramid as the name indicates: the age group of persons entitled to vote rather resembles a tower and that of candidates an onion, from which it can be seen that both the youngest and oldest age groups are missing. Most male candidates represent the age group of those aged 55 to 64 and most female candidates the age group of those aged 44 to 54.

Figure 2. Age distributions and average age of persons entitled to vote by sex in Municipal elections 2012, %

Figure 3. Age distributions and average age of candidates by sex in Municipal elections 2012, %

Examined by party, the Communist Party has the oldest candidates: over 40 per cent of their candidates are aged 60 or over and the average age is 52.4 years. In turn, the Green League candidates are the youngest. Over 40 per cent of the Green League candidates are aged 40 or under, and the average age of the candidates is 43.1 years. Around 27 per cent of the candidates of all parties are aged 40 or under and around 26 per cent are aged 60 or over. The differences in the ages of candidates by party are fairly small: the average age of female candidates from all parties is a few years lower than that of male candidates, with the exception of the Green League and the Christian Democrats.

Figure 4. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by age group in Municipal elections 2012, %

Table 2. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by age group in Municipal elections 2012, %

	18-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-69	70+
Persons entitled to vote	18.6	15.4	17.3	18,4	16.6	16.0
Candidates	10.0	17.4	22.3	24.6	21.4	4.3
Green    League    GREENS	14.7	28.3	26.2	20.0	8.9	1.9
Others	13.3	17.5	22.6	20.9	20.5	5.1
Communist Pty    of Finland    SKP	12.8	13.2	9.4	23.4	31.9	9.5
Swedish    People's Pty    in Finland    RKP	12.1	17.5	23.6	21.8	21.6	3.4
Centre Pty    of Finland    CENT	10.2	17.1	22.8	25.1	21.2	3.6
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	10.2	15.5	19.3	24.2	25.0	5.9
Left   Alliance   LEFT	10.1	15.4	17.1	26.3	25.8	5.3
National    Coalition Pty    KOK	9.6	18.5	25.5	22.8	19.6	4.0
True Finns    PS	9.1	17.8	23.5	25.4	19.6	4.5
Finnish    Social    Democratic Pty    SDP	7.9	14.7	20.3	27.4	25.1	4.6

Table 3. Average age of candidates by party in Municipal elections 2012

	Total	Men	Women
Persons entitled to vote	49.5	48.1	50.8
Candidates	48.7	49.8	47.0
National    Coaltion Pty    KOK	48.1	49.1	46.5
Finnish    Social    Democratic Pty    SDP	50.6	51.8	48.7
True Finns    PS	48.6	49.0	47.1
Centre Pty    of Finland   CENT	48.5	49.8	46.6
Green    League    GREENS	43.1	43.4	42.8
Left    Alliance    LEFT	50.3	51.6	48.2
Swedish    People's Pty    in Finland    RKP	47.9	49.5	45.7
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	50.0	50.0	50.0
Communist Pty    of Finland    SKP	52.4	53.2	50.8
Others	47.6	47.6	47.7

Altogether 1.5 per cent of men and 0.7 per cent of women were nominated as candidates. In all age groups fewer women were nominated than men. The participation rate as candidates rises sharply for both sexes until the age of 35, after which the proportion of female candidates per age group remains at around 1.1 per cent and turns downwards slightly after the age of 50. In turn, men's participation rate still grows until the age of 53. The proportion of male candidates per age group is at its highest in ages 53 to 67, when around 1.5 to 1.7 per cent of each 1-year age group are candidates (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Proportion of candidates in age group in Municipal elections 2012, %

Table 4. Party distribution of candidates by size of municipality in Municipal elections 2012, %

	Tot.	Size category of municipality
		- 1,999	2,000 - 4,999	5,000 - 9,999	10,000 - 19,999	20,000 - 49,999	50,000 - 99,999	100,000+
Candidates tot.	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
National    Coalition    Pty    KOK	18.5	19.0	15.7	17.4	20.1	20.0	22.3	15.9
Finnish    Social    Democratic    Pty    SDP	18.8	12.6	14.9	18.1	20.5	22.3	21.8	15.9
True Finns    PS	11.8	13.3	13.8	11.0	12.6	10.7	10.8	12.2
Centre Pty    of Finland    CENT	22.6	39.1	39.1	29.1	23.1	14.8	16.4	10.9
Green    League    GREENS	6.2	1.5	1.6	2.9	4.3	8.1	8.5	13.3
Left    Alliance    LEFT	9.4	6.4	6.4	9.8	7.9	11.0	8.7	12.5
Swedish    People's    Pty    in Finland    RKP	3.6	1.9	1.6	5.2	4.6	3.0	1.9	4.9
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	5.0	3.1	4.2	3.6	5.1	5.8	6.2	5.9
Communist    Pty    of Finland    SKP	0.8	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.3	1.1	0.3	3.0
Others	3.1	3.0	2.5	2.8	1.6	3.1	3.2	5.5

In small municipalities the Centre Party has the highest number of candidates. The Centre Party candidates dominate municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants: in municipalities with fewer than 4,000 inhabitants nearly 40 per cent of all candidates were nominated by the Centre Party. In municipalities with 5,000 to 9,999 inhabitants, the proportion of the Centre Party is 29 per cent and in municipalities with 10,000 to 19,999 inhabitants it is 23 per cent of the candidates. In large municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants the proportion of the Centre Party is slightly over ten per cent of all candidates.

In larger municipalities no party reaches as large a share of the candidates as the Centre Party does in small municipalities. In municipalities with 20,000 to 99,999 inhabitants, around one fifth of all candidates are from both the Coalition Party and the Social Democratic Party. In the largest municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants the distribution of candidates is considerably more even: the Coalition Party and the Social Democratic Party have nominated the most candidates, that is, both parties have a proportion of 16 per cent. Large cities also have more than average candidates from the Green League, the Left Alliance and the Communist Party of Finland. The share of True Finn candidates does not vary much by size of municipality.

1.3. Few candidates of foreign origin

The language distribution among the candidates mirrors, by and large, the language distribution of the population in the regions. The proportion of Swedish-speaking candidates (5.3%) slightly exceeds their proportion of persons entitled to vote (4.9%). Swedish-speaking people are more active in the region of Uusimaa, where their proportion of the candidates is 14 per cent and that of the persons entitled to vote is 8.5 per cent. In the Greater Helsinki region the share of Swedish-speaking population in candidates is below their share of the population, however (5.9 per cent of the candidates and 11.5 per cent of persons entitled to vote). (Table 5.)

Table 5. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by native language by region in Municipal elections 2012, %

Region	Persons entitled to vote			Candidates
	Finnish/ Sami	Swedish	Other	Finnish/ Sami	Swedish	Other
MAINLAND FINLAND	91.0	4.9	4.1	92.8	5.3	1.8
Uusimaa	83.4	8.5	8.0	82.7	14.1	3.3
- Greater Helsinki    region	84.0	5.9	10.1	83.1	11.5	5.5
Varsinais-Suomi	90.1	5.7	4.2	92.6	5.9	1.5
Satakunta	97.9	0.3	1.7	98.9	0.0	1.0
Kanta-Häme	97.4	0.4	2.3	98.7	0.3	1.0
Pirkanmaa	96.6	0.3	3.1	98.3	0.3	1.4
Päijät-Häme	96.5	0.3	3.2	97.8	0.2	2.0
Kymenlaakso	95.4	0.8	3.8	95.9	1.6	2.4
South Karelia	96.2	0.2	3.6	98.3	0.1	1.6
Etelä Savo	98.0	0.2	1.9	98.2	0.3	1.5
Pohjois Savo	98.3	0.1	1.6	97.9	0.2	1.9
North Karelia	97.6	0.1	2.3	97.5	0.2	2.3
Central Finland	97.8	0.2	2.1	98.5	0.2	1.3
South Ostrobothnia	98.4	0.3	1.3	98.9	0.2	0.9
Ostrobothnia	46.4	50.2	3.6	47.6	49.1	3.4
Central Ostrobothnia	88.9	9.5	1.6	91.1	7.6	1.3
North Ostrobothnia	98.3	0.2	1.6	98.5	0.4	1.1
Kainuu	98.2	0.1	1.7	98.0	0.3	1.8
Lapland	98.2	0.2	1.6	98.8	0.1	1.1

In all, 4.1 per cent of all persons entitled to vote speak another language than Finland's national languages. Considerably fewer of the candidates, just 1.8 per cent are foreign-language speakers. In nearly all regions the share of foreign-language speakers in all candidates is lower than their share of the population. Only in Pohjois-Savo, North Karelia and Kainuu the ratio of foreign-language speaking candidates is equal to or higher than that of persons entitled to vote. In the 2008 elections foreign-language speaking candidates made up 1.4 per cent of all candidates.

Of national language speakers, Sami speakers were nominated as candidates more than average. Of Sami speakers entitled to vote, 2.6 per cent were nominated in the Municipal elections. On average, 0.9 per cent of the persons entitled to vote are candidates. (Table 6.)

The nomination of foreign-language speakers as candidates is much rarer. On average, 0.4 per cent of foreign-language speakers entitled to vote are candidates in the Municipal elections. A total of 680 foreign-language speakers were nominated as candidates. It is 0.4 per cent of the foreign-language speakers entitled to vote. The largest group of foreign-language speaking candidates is formed by Russians, 172 candidates, and the second largest by Estonians, 66 candidates.

From 2008, the number of foreign-language speaking candidates has risen by 141. In 2008, foreign-language speaking candidates had the same share of foreign-language speakers entitled to vote as in the 2012 elections.

Table 6. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by native language, largest language groups specified, in Municipal elections 2012, %

Language	Persons entitled to vote	Candidates	%
Languages tot.	4,307,884	37,125	0.9
Finnish	3,918,154	34,428	0.9
Swedish	209,984	1,980	0.9
Sami	1,419	37	2.6
Foreign-language speakers tot.	178,327	680	0.4
Russian	44,832	172	0.4
Estonian	26,584	66	0.2
English	10,607	34	0.3
Somali	7,221	29	0.4
Arabic	7,183	42	0.6
Kurdish	5,715	34	0.6
German	4,790	20	0.4
Albanian	4,574	18	0.4
Turkish	4,264	38	0.9
Spanish	3,972	28	0.7
Persian	3,648	16	0.4
French	2,470	10	0.4
Hungarian	1,749	11	0.6
Serbo-Croat	1,187	10	0.8

The deficit of foreign persons among all candidates is 2.3 percentage points. In Uusimaa it is 4.7 and in Varsinais-Suomi 2.7 percentage points. The number of candidates of foreign background is thus smaller than their share of the population. The two exceptions are PohjoisNorth Savo and Kainuu, where the number of candidates of foreign background slightly exceeds their share of the population. The deficit is highest in areas where the population share of foreign-language speakers is largest, i.e. in Uusimaa - especially in the Greater Helsinki region - and in Varsinais-Suomi. (Figure 6.)

Figure 6. Share of foreign-language speakers by region among persons entitled to vote and candidates in Municipal elections 2012, %

The foreign background of the population can also be examined by the person's origin. For 94.5 per cent of the persons entitled to vote and for 97.1 per cent of the candidates born in Finland both of their parents were also born in Finland. Thus, good five per cent of the persons entitled to vote and nearly three per cent of the candidates have some type of foreign background (Figure 7). Around one per cent of both persons entitled to vote and candidates have one parent born in Finland and the other abroad.

Second generation immigrants, or those who were themselves born in Finland, but whose parents were born abroad, are still fairly few among both persons entitled to vote and candidates (0.1%). First generation immigrants (the person and parents both born abroad) are clearly under-represented among the candidates. Of all persons entitled to vote, 4.5 per cent belong to this group, while this is so for only 2.0 per cent of the candidates.

Figure 7. Proportion of persons with foreign background (persons whose at least one parent is born abroad) by party in Municipal elections 2012, %

In the following examination, persons whose both parents (or only) were born abroad (first and second generation immigrants) are regarded as persons with foreign background. Of all candidates, 2.1 per cent belong to this group and 4.6 per cent of the persons entitled to vote. Examined by party, the number of candidates with foreign background is highest in the Swedish People's Party, 4.4 per cent of the candidates, and lowest in the True Finns (1.3%) and the Centre Party (1.2%). The Greens, the Christian Democrats, the Communist Party, the Left Alliance and the Social Democratic Party have more than average candidates with foreign background. (Figure 8.)

Figure 8. Proportion of persons with foreign background (persons whose at least one parent is born abroad) by party in Municipal elections 2012, %

Uusimaa has the most persons entitled to vote who have foreign background, especially in the Greater Helsinki region, as has Varsinais-Suomi and Ostrobothnia, where in all the share of foreign-background persons is more than or close to the average for Mainland Finland. South and North Ostrobothnia, Pohjois-Savo and Kainuu have the lowest proportion of persons entitled to vote with foreign background, where under two per cent of the voters have foreign background. (Figure 9).

With regard to their share of the population, candidates with foreign background are clearly under-represented in South Karelia, Varsinais-Suomi, Kanta-Häme, Uusimaa and Pirkanmaa, where the proportion of the candidates is less than one half of that of persons entitled to vote. In contrast, the ratio of candidates with foreign background is almost equal to persons entitled to vote in Central Ostrobothnia, Pohjois-Savo, North Karelia and Kainuu. In Central Ostrobothnia even slightly more candidates have foreign background than persons entitled to vote do.

Figure 9. Proportion of persons with foreign background (persons whose both parents were born abroad) by region, the Greater Helsinki region separately, in Municipal elections 2012, %

1.4. Candidates' educational level is high

As regards education, candidates differ clearly from persons entitled to vote. Of the candidates, 84.5 per cent have attained a higher educational level than the basic level, while 68.5 per cent of all persons entitled to vote have some post-basic level education. Of persons entitled to vote, 28.4 per cent have at least lowest level tertiary education and of the candidates this is so for 43 per cent. (Figure 10.)

The educational level is highest for the Green League candidates. One half of them have tertiary level qualifications (ISCED 5A/6), while this is so for under 30 per cent of all candidates and for under one fifth of all persons entitled to vote. Swedish People's Party, Coalition Party and Christian Democrat candidates also have more tertiary level qualifications than average for the candidates.

Figure 10. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by educational level in Municipal elections 2012, %

The educational level of the Municipal election candidates reflects the differences in the educational structure of different areas. In the region of Uusimaa and especially in the Greater Helsinki region the proportion of highly educated is higher than in the rest of country both among the persons entitled to vote and the candidates (Figure 11). In Uusimaa and particularly in the Greater Helsinki region the proportion of highly educated candidates is considerable. In the Greater Helsinki region, nearly 45 per cent and in the whole Uusimaa region around 38 per cent of the candidates have tertiary level qualifications (ISCED 5A/6). In other areas at most 30 per cent of the candidates have tertiary level qualifications (ISCED 5A/6).

Table 7. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by educational level in Municipal elections 2012, %

	Tertiary level  (ISCED 5A/6)	Lowest tertiary (ISCED 5B)	Secondary level (ISCED 3/4)	Basic level
Persons entitled to vote	17.7	10.8	40.1	31.5
Candidates	28.2	14.9	41.5	15.5
Green    League    GREENS	50.7	10.7	30.3	8.3
Swedish    People's Pty    in Finland    RKP	44.1	14.7	29.0	12.2
National    Coalition Pty    KOK	41.0	19.3	29.5	10.3
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	32.9	17.5	36.9	12.7
Centre Pty    of Finland    CENT	27.6	18.0	41.0	13.3
Others	24.2	12.5	44.4	18.9
Finnish    Social    Democrats    in Finland    SDP	20.7	13.7	47.8	17.8
Communist Pty    of Finland    SKP	18.4	4.3	48.7	28.6
Left Alliance    LEFT	16.6	8.6	54.2	20.6
True Finns    PS	13.2	11.3	51.6	23.9

In regions where persons entitled to vote have the least often tertiary level educational qualifications, the number of candidates with tertiary level qualifications is in relative terms the highest. For instance, in Etelä-Savo, South Karelia, Kymenlaakso, South Ostrobothnia and Satakunta, the proportion of candidates with tertiary level qualifications is double that of persons entitled to vote. In the Greater Helsinki region and Uusimaa the ratio is around one-and-a-half times as high.

Figure 11. Proportion of persons with tertiary level qualifications among persons entitled to vote and candidates by region in Municipal elections 2012, %

1.5. Family status

Majority of candidates live in families with children

The candidates also differ in their family status from the persons entitled to vote: considerably more (36%) of them are parents of a family with children and fewer of them are without a family (20%) than is the case among persons entitled to vote (24% and 30%). Fewer of the candidates are young people living at home. Differences in the family status are explained by the fact that the age structure of the candidates and persons entitled to vote differs from each other. Both the bottom and top ends of the age range are missing among the candidates. For a majority of those entitled to vote children have already moved from home, while most candidates are at an age when children are still living at home. (Figure 12, Table 8.)

Of all persons entitled to vote around one quarter are parents of a family with children, or the family has at least one underage child. Nearly three per cent of them are single parents. In addition, around eight per cent are parents with adult children living at home. Approximately 33 per cent are childless couples, close on 30 per cent live alone without a family and around seven per cent of persons entitled to vote are young adults living at home.

The proportion of candidates whose children are still living at home is highest for the Centre Party and Swedish People's Party candidates, being over one half of these parties' candidates. In turn, the Communist Party and Left Alliance candidates have the least often children living in their household. Young people living at home are the most common among the Centre Party and Coalition Party candidates and persons without a family among the Communist Party (43%) and Green League candidates (25%). Only the Communist Party of Finland has more candidates without a family than is the case for all persons entitled to vote.

Figure 12. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by family type in Municipal elections 2012, %

Table 8. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by family status in Municipal elections 2012, %

Party	Families with children (aged under 18)		Other families with only children aged 17 or over		Childless couple	Youth living at home	Not belonging to a family
	Parent of a married/ cohabiting family	Single parent	Parent of a married/ cohabiting family	Single parent
Persons entitled to vote	21.3	2.7	4.5	1.4	32.9	7.3	29.9
Candidates	32.4	3.9	6.8	1.4	30.8	4.6	20.1
National    Coalition    Pty    KOK	36.7	3.6	6.2	1.1	31.0	4.7	16.7
Finnish    Social    Democratic    Pty    SDP	27.5	3.9	7.0	1.5	36.1	3.5	20.4
True Finns    PS	30.5	4.3	4.9	1.4	29.3	4.7	24.9
Centre Pty    of Finland    CENT	37.3	3.4	9.0	1.4	27.9	6.2	14.8
Green    League    GREENS	38.2	6.6	3.0	1.2	21.4	4.3	25.3
Left   Alliance    LEFT	22.2	3.7	6.5	1.6	36.5	2.9	26.6
Swedish    People's    Pty    in Finland    RKP	36.6	3.7	8.8	1.4	27.1	6.3	16.1
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	31.3	3.8	8.4	1.0	33.4	3.8	18.2
Communist    Pty    of Finland    SKP	11.2	5.6	3.0	1.6	33.2	2.3	43.1
Others	27.7	4.6	5.0	1.3	26.4	4.1	30.9

1.6. Number of children

More children than on average

Family status does not reveal how many of the candidates have or have had children of their own, because in older families, children may have already moved away from home and in family break-ups, children may live with their other parent. Information on the number of children can be regarded as an indicator of how many have experiences of children of their own.

Candidates have more children than average. Of the candidates, 78 per cent have children of their own, whereas the corresponding figure for persons entitled to vote is 65 per cent. Children are the most numerous among the Christian Democrats, of whom 22 per cent have at least four children, and among the Centre Party candidates, of whom 17 per cent have four or more children. Large families are rarer for the Communist Party and Green League candidates (Figure 13). The candidates’ number of children reflects the birth rate in the area, which means that the number of children is highest in North, Central and South Ostrobothnia, Kainuu and Lapland, and lowest in Varsinais-Suomi, Uusimaa, Kymenlaakso and South Karelia.

In all, 35 per cent of the persons entitled to vote and 22 per cent of the candidates have never had children of their own. The proportion of childless candidates varies from 19 per cent for the Social Democrats to 31 per cent for the Green League.

Figure 13. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by number of children in Municipal elections 2012, %

The candidates have two children, on average. All persons entitled to vote have an average of 1.5 children. The number of children is highest among the Christian Democrat candidates, i.e. 2.3 children and lowest among the Communist Party candidates, 1.6 children. Men entitled to vote have slightly fewer children than women, but there is not much of a difference between genders among the candidates. (Table 9.)

Table 9. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by number of children (children on average) in Municipal elections 2012

	Total	Men	Women
Persons entitled to vote	1.5	1.4	1.6
Candidates	2.0	2.0	2.0
National    Coalition Pty    KOK	2.0	2.0	1.9
Finnish    Social    Democratic Pty    SDP	1.9	1.9	2.0
True Finns    PS	1.9	1.9	2.1
Centre Pty    of Finland    CENT	2.3	2.3	2.3
Green    League    GREENS	1.6	1.5	1.7
Left Alliance    LEFT	1.8	1.8	1.9
Swedish    People's Pty    in Finland    RKP	1.9	1.9	1.9
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	2.3	2.3	2.3
Communist Pty    of Finland    SKP	1.6	1.6	1.6
Others	1.8	1.6	2.0

1.7. Employment status

Employment problems rare

Seventy-one per cent of the candidates are employed, and the proportion of unemployed persons is more or less the same as among persons entitled to vote. In turn, there are clearly fewer pensioners among the candidates, just 16 per cent. However, there are nearly three percentage points more pensioner candidates than in the previous Municipal elections. When looking at working-age population (aged 18 to 64), 78 per cent of the candidates are employed, while the proportion of employed persons is ten percentage points lower among all persons entitled to vote. Distinctly more of the persons entitled to vote of this age are students and other inactive population than among the candidates. (Figure 14.)

Over one half, around 54 per cent, of persons entitled to vote, are working, six per cent are unemployed and around 28 per cent are pensioners. Eight per cent of persons entitled to vote are studying and around four per cent are otherwise in inactive population. The proportion of the employed has fallen somewhat and that of the unemployed has risen slightly from the previous elections.

The number of employed persons is highest among the Swedish People's Party, Coalition Party and Centre Party candidates, of whom over 75 per cent are working. In these parties unemployment is rarer than average. Among the candidates of the Social Democratic Party, the Green League and the Christian Democrats unemployment is as common as among the persons entitled to vote, whereas the candidates of the Left Alliance, the True Finns and the Communist Party have been unemployed more often than average. The Green League has in relative terms the highest proportion of student candidates, 11.8 per cent. The proportion of pensioners is highest for the Communist Party of Finland, which explains the small share of employed persons among the Communist Party candidates.

Figure 14. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by main type of activity in Municipal elections 2012, %

Table 10. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by main type of activity in Municipal elections 2012, %

	Employed	Unemployed	Students	Pensioners	Others
Persons entitled to vote, tot.	53.6	6.2	8.1	27.9	4.3
- aged 18 to 64	68.7	8.0	10.5	7.3	5.5
Candidates, tot.	70.6	6.0	5.3	15.8	2.3
- aged 18 to 64	78.3	6.8	6.0	6.2	2.6
Swedish    People's Pty    in Finland    RKP	77.7	2.9	5.5	11.7	2.2
National    Coalition Pty    KOK	77.0	3.2	4.8	13.2	1.8
Centre Pty    of Finland    CENT	76.2	3.7	4.5	13.7	1.9
Green    League    GREENS	73.9	6.9	9.4	7.0	2.8
Finnish    Social    Democratic Pty    SDP	71.0	5.7	4.5	17.3	1.5
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	65.3	5.8	6.1	19.8	3.0
Left Alliance    LEFT	62.5	9.0	5.7	20.4	2.4
True Finns    PS	59.5	11.5	5.2	20.2	3.6
Others	58.1	9.6	8.0	20.0	4.3
Communist Pty    of Finland    SKP	39.8	13.5	9.2	32.6	4.9

The employment rate is calculated as the ratio of employed persons aged 18 to 64 to the population of the same age. The employment rates of the candidates closely resemble those of persons entitled to vote. Where the employment rate of total population is high, the employment rate of the candidates is also at a high level there. Ostrobothnia has the highest employment rate of total population, 73.4 per cent, and there over 82 per cent of the candidates are working. Correspondingly, the general employment rate in North Karelia is 62 per cent and the employment of the candidates is also lowest, around 72 per cent are employed. (Figure 15, Table 11.)

The employment rate of the candidates is closest to those entitled to vote in Uusimaa, where the employment rate of the candidates is 6.9 percentage points higher than that of persons entitled to vote. The difference between employment rates is largest in Satakunta, that is, 12.9 percentage points. There the employment rate of the candidates is 81.1 per cent and that of persons entitled to vote 68.2 per cent.

Figure 15. Employment rate of persons entitled to vote and candidates (aged 18 to 64) by region in Municipal elections 2012, %

Table 11. Employment rate of persons entitled to vote and candidates (aged 18 to 64) by region in Municipal elections 2012, %

Region	Both sexes		Men		Women
	Persons entitled to vote	Candidates	Persons entitled to vote	Candidates	Persons entitled to vote	Candidates
Mainland Finalnd	68.7	78.3	67.6	77.3	69.8	79.9
Uusimaa	72.9	79.8	71.7	79.1	74.0	80.6
Greater Helsinki    region	72.0	76.8	70.5	76.0	73.4	77.9
Varsinais-Suomi	69.1	79.5	67.7	78.0	70.5	81.5
Satakunta	68.2	81.1	67.6	78.7	68.8	84.7
Kanta-Häme	70.7	80.8	69.9	80.1	71.6	81.7
Pirkanmaa	67.7	78.9	66.8	79.3	68.6	78.3
Päijät-Häme	66.7	78.5	66.2	78.5	67.2	78.5
Kymenlaakso	65.8	75.7	64.5	73.0	67.1	79.7
South Karelia	65.5	77.4	63.9	74.9	67.2	81.3
Etelä Savo	65.9	77.6	64.0	76.6	67.8	79.1
Pohjois Savo	64.9	76.6	63.4	74.7	66.4	79.4
North Karelia	62.0	71.6	60.6	70.9	63.6	72.8
Central Finland	65.3	75.9	64.7	76.0	66.0	75.6
South Ostrobothnia	69.3	81.5	69.4	80.2	69.3	83.6
Ostrobothnia	73.4	82.4	73.2	80.7	73.7	85.0
Central Ostrobothnia	69.6	81.8	70.2	82.6	69.0	80.3
North Ostrobothnia	65.1	76.4	65.0	74.8	65.3	78.8
Kainuu	62.4	74.3	59.8	72.9	65.3	76.5
Lapland	62.9	73.2	61.1	71.5	64.8	75.6

Majority of candidates salaried employees

Over 40 per cent of all candidates are salaried employees and this is so for around 30 per cent of all persons entitled to vote. The proportion of salaried employees is highest among the Green League, Swedish People's Party and Coalition Party candidates, over one half of whom are upper-level or lower-level salaried employees. In all these the proportion of upper-level employees is over one half among all salaried employees. The proportion of salaried employees is lowest among the True Finns (8.3%), Left Alliance (12.4%) and Communist Party (13.5%) candidates. (Figure 16.)

The Coalition Party (14.2%) and Swedish People's Party (6.7%) candidates have the highest proportion of entrepreneurs in agriculture and forestry. The Coalition Party candidates have the biggest share of other entrepreneurs, or 13 per cent. The proportion of workers is highest among the Left Alliance and Social Democrat candidates, around one quarter, and among the True Finns, about 23 per cent.

Figure 16. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by sosio-economic group in Municipal elections 2012, %

The public sector employs candidates more than persons entitled to vote

Of the candidates 78 per cent are employed. Forty-eight per cent of them are private sector wage and salary earners, 18 per cent are entrepreneurs and seven per cent work for central government and 27 per cent for local government. Employer type varies significantly by party. The proportion of private sector wage and salary earners is highest among the Communist Party and Left Alliance candidates, or around 60 per cent, 56 per cent among the True Finn candidates and 53 per cent among the SDP candidates. The lowest proportion of private sector wage and salary earners was found among the Centre Party candidates (39%). It should, however, be noted that only one half of the Communist Party candidates are in working life and the rest are pensioners, unemployed, studying and so on.

Thirty per cent of the Centre Party candidates are entrepreneurs, the majority of whom work in agriculture. The lowest proportions of entrepreneurs can be found in the Communist Party of Finland (3.3%) and the Social Democratic Party (6.0%). Green League candidates are most often employed by the public sector: 34 per cent receive their pay from local government and 11 per cent from central government. The next highest proportion of public sector employees is found among the Social Democrats, of whom 35 per cent are employed by local and six per cent by central government. The proportion of public sector candidates is lowest for the True Finns: 17 per cent work in the local government sector and five per cent in the central government sector. (Figure 17.)

Figure 17. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by employer sector in Municipal elections 2012, %

The public sector employs candidates most in the largest municipalities, where almost 40 per cent are employed in the local or central government sector. In municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants the public sector has a share of 30 per cent and the private sector (incl. entrepreneurs) 70 per cent. In the smallest municipalities, entrepreneurs account for around one fifth of the candidates. (Table 12.)

Table 12. Candidates by employer sector and size of municipality in Municipal elections 2012, %

Size category of municipality	Private	Entrepeneurs	Central government	Local government	Public total
Persons entitled to vote, tot.	61.3	10.3	5.9	22.4	28.4
-1,999	47.7	23.4	3.2	25.7	29.0
2,000-4,999	50.8	20.8	3.4	25.1	28.5
5,000-9,999	55.4	16.4	4.0	24.2	28.2
10,000-19,999	58.3	13.9	3.9	23.9	27.8
20,000-49,999	63.2	9.7	4.5	22.6	27.1
50,000-99,999	58.8	9.1	6.4	25.6	32.1
100,000+	65.3	6.8	8.0	20.0	27.9
Candidates, tot.	47.7	18.0	6.7	27.7	34.3
-1,999	39.2	33.4	4.0	23.4	27.4
2,000-4,999	41.5	27.0	4.2	27.3	31.4
5,000-9,999	45.2	22.5	5.4	26.8	32.2
10,000-19,999	47.4	19.2	5.4	28.0	33.5
20,000-49,999	52.4	13.3	6.2	28.2	34.3
50,000-99,999	46.6	13.2	8.7	31.4	40.1
100,000+	52.8	9.2	11.8	26.1	37.9

1.8. Income level

Income level of the candidates higher than that of persons entitled to vote

The candidates are better educated and their employment rate is higher than that of persons entitled to vote in the area concerned. This partly explains why their income subject to state taxation is also clearly higher than that of persons entitled to vote. In the following, we examine the income level of the candidates and persons entitled to vote by means of median income.

In 2010 the median income of persons entitled to vote was EUR 21,500, and that of candidates EUR 29,900, that is, EUR 8,400 higher. Both the persons entitled to vote and the candidates had the highest income in the region of Uusimaa (EUR 25,000 and EUR 33,600, respectively). (Figure 18, Table 13)

At its largest the income differential between the candidates and persons entitled to vote is in Ostrobothnia, Etelä-Savo and Satakunta, where the median income of the candidates is over EUR 10,000 higher than that of persons entitled to vote. The income differential is smallest in North Karelia and Lapland, under EUR 8,000. The income subject to state taxation has risen since the last Municipal elections, by 13.7 per cent among persons entitled to vote and by 12.7 per cent among the candidates.

Persons entitled to vote have had the best income development compared with the 2008 Municipal elections in Kainuu and Lapland, where their median income has risen by over 17 per cent. The candidates' income has gone up most in Ostrobothnia, South Ostrobothnia and Uusimaa, that is, by at least 15 per cent. In contrast, the income of persons entitled to vote has risen least in Varsinais-Suomi (11.8%) and Uusimaa (12.3%). The income development of the candidates has been smallest in North Karelia, where the candidates' median income is around five per cent higher than during the previous Municipal elections.

Figure 18. Median income subject to state taxation (in euro) of persons entitled to vote and candidates by region in Municipal elections 2012,

Table 13. Median income subject to state taxation (in euro) of persons entitled to vote and candidates by region in Municipal elections 2012, %

Region	Persons entitled to vote			Candidates
	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
Mainland Finland	21,498	24,746	19,062	29,884	31,701	27,565
Uusimaa	24,976	28,393	22,625	33,608	36,111	30,447
Greater Helsinki    region	24,793	27,809	22,761	32,463	34,432	30,484
Varsinais-Suomi	21,228	24,511	18,814	29,554	30,875	27,770
Satakunta	20,316	24,161	17,461	30,365	32,971	27,587
Kanta-Häme	22,076	25,547	19,496	31,060	33,366	28,506
Pirkanmaa	20,792	24,317	18,252	29,713	31,728	26,735
Päijät-Häme	20,244	23,665	17,771	29,657	31,400	26,605
Kymenlaakso	21,173	25,142	17,981	30,472	32,782	27,391
South Karelia	20,250	23,933	17,483	30,076	32,561	26,775
Etelä Savo	19,057	21,299	17,227	29,401	31,342	26,238
Pohjois Savo	19,469	22,003	17,565	28,073	28,909	27,179
North Karelia	17,905	20,037	16,205	25,338	26,790	23,606
Central Finland	19,511	22,854	17,068	27,562	29,682	23,631
South Ostrobothnia	19,718	22,724	17,340	29,684	30,823	27,877
Ostrobothnia	21,348	25,473	18,339	31,793	32,240	28,359
Central Ostrobothnia	20,468	24,591	17,381	29,852	32,362	26,707
North Ostrobothnia	20,478	23,872	17,826	29,741	30,971	28,391
Kainuu	18,875	21,306	16,889	27,440	28,013	25,896
Lapland	19,657	21,963	17,750	27,347	28,967	25,217

The candidates’ income varies by party from EUR 37,000 in the Coalition Party to EUR 19,000 in the Communist Party. The median income of the Swedish People's Party candidates is EUR 35,500, that of the SDP candidates EUR 31,300 and that of the Centre Party candidates EUR 30,500. Compared to persons entitled to vote, the Coalition Party and Swedish People’s Party candidates earn nearly EUR 15,000 more. The income of the Green League’s younger and often student candidates is, on average, EUR 2,300 higher than that of the persons entitled to vote. Only the income of the Communist Party candidates is lower than that of persons entitled to vote. (Figure 19, Table 14.)

Figure 19. Median income subject to state taxation (in euro) of persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) in Municipal elections 2012 and 2008, %

Table 14. Median income subject to state taxation (in euro) of persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) in Municipal elections 2012, %

	Total	Men	Women
Persons entitled to vote	21,498	24,746	19,062
Candidates	29,884	31,701	27,565
National    Coalition Pty    KOK	36,968	39,925	33,444
Finnish    Social    Democratic Pty    SDP	31,254	33,222	28,636
True Finns    PS	23,145	24,031	20,555
Centre Pty    of Finland    CENT	30,530	33,164	27,364
Green   League    GREENS	27,481	29,071	26,188
Left Alliance    LEFT	26,328	28,130	24,063
Swedish    People's Pty    in Finland    RKP	35,513	39,150	31,410
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	26,063	28,708	24,027
Communist Pty    of Finland    SKP	18,974	20,421	17,644
Others	22,671	23,234	21,323

The median income of all candidates is nearly 40 per cent higher than that of persons entitled to vote. In comparison to persons entitled to vote, the income of the Coalition Party candidates is 72 per cent higher, that of the Swedish People's Party candidates 65 per cent, that of the SDP candidates 45 per cent and that of the Centre Party candidates 42 per cent. The income level of the True Finns is close to the income level of all persons entitled to vote, that is, just eight per cent higher. The income level of the Communist Party candidates is even lower than that of persons entitled to vote, or 88 per cent of that.

The differences are even bigger than this in the regions. The biggest difference between persons entitled to vote in the region and the candidates is found among the Swedish People's Party candidates in Central Ostrobothnia and the Coalition Party candidates in Central and North Ostrobothnia, as their median income is nearly double compared with persons entitled to vote in the region. The SDP candidates in Kainuu earn 77 per cent more than persons entitled to vote in the area. The Centre Party candidates in Etelä-Savo have 65 per cent higher median income than persons entitled to vote in the region.

The Green League, Left Alliance and Christian Democrat candidates differ usually less than average from persons entitled to vote, the biggest difference for the Greens is in Etelä-Savo (45 per cent higher income), for the Left Alliance in Ostrobothnia (42%) and for the Christian Democrats in South Karelia (47%). The True Finns are very close to the income level of persons entitled to vote: in Päijät-Häme and North Ostrobothnia even slightly below that of persons entitled to vote. The income of the Communist Party candidates remains below that of persons entitled to vote, except for the region of Päijät-Häme. (Table 15.)

Table 15. Candidates’ average income by party compared to average income of persons entitled to vote by region in Municipal elections 2012, persons entitled to vote = 100

	Persons entitled to vote	Candidates	KOK	SDP	PS	CENT	GREENS	LEFT	RKP	KD	SKP	Oth.
Mainland Finland	100	139	172	145	108	142	128	122	165	121	88	105
Uusimaa	100	135	171	138	114	141	132	118	141	109	90	100
Greater Helsinki    region	100	131	180	148	118	151	134	126	143	101	94	62
Varsinais-Suomi	100	139	175	149	118	127	133	119	174	105	77	75
Satakunta	100	149	179	164	110	147	120	130	..	131	..	107
Kanta-Häme	100	141	171	141	116	141	124	127	..	137	..	..
Pirkanmaa	100	143	179	148	119	138	129	134	..	144	96	105
Päijät-Häme	100	146	177	154	99	133	123	112	..	136	108	138
Kymenlaakso	100	144	183	158	103	149	119	117	..	123	..	142
South Karelia	100	149	182	148	100	157	110	91	..	147	..	102
Etelä Savo	100	154	178	165	104	165	145	127	..	120	..	133
Pohjois Savo	100	144	178	161	119	157	117	135	..	120	38	109
North Karelia	100	142	176	155	105	156	93	113	..	115	..	99
Central Finland	100	141	172	154	113	145	101	118	..	128	79	53
South Ostrobothnia	100	151	179	144	105	166	127	123	..	125	..	115
Ostrobothnia	100	149	167	141	113	148	95	142	168	134	..	144
Central Ostrobothnia	100	146	189	135	120	159	75	104	195	130	..	127
North Ostrobothnia	100	145	189	149	99	157	129	133	..	132	..	94
Kainuu	100	145	176	177	113	155	79	128	..	94	..	101
Lapland	100	139	172	147	112	150	103	126	..	145	68	120

1.9. Income brackets

In the following, comparisons are made on the division of candidates into income quintiles that are formed on the basis of the income subject to state tax of persons entitled to vote. In the division into income quintiles the income brackets are determined so that there is an equal number of persons in each quintile, i.e. 20 per cent of the persons entitled to vote. For the sake of comparison, employed persons in 2009 are also examined in the same income brackets.

In 2010 the lowest quintile among persons entitled to vote earned under EUR 9,166 and the highest quintile over EUR 37,161. Nearly seven per cent of employed persons and 11 per cent of the candidates belong to the lowest quintile. Correspondingly, one third of employed persons and nearly 35 per cent of the candidates belong to the highest income quintile. Almost one half of the Coalition Party and Swedish People's Party candidates belong to the highest income bracket. The proportion of low-income candidates is highest among the candidates of the Communist Party of Finland, the Green League and the Left Alliance. (Figure 20.)

Figure 20. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by income bracket in Municipal elections 2012, %

Table 16. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by income bracket in Municipal elections 2012, %

	–9,165	9,166–16,832	16,833–26,261	26,262–37,161	37,162+
Persons entitled to vote	20.0	20.0	20.0	20.0	20.0
Candidates	11.2	12.7	18.1	234	34.6
Employed	6.4	9.7	20.1	30.7	33.1
Finnish    Social    Democratic Pty    SDP	7.6	9.7	19.1	29.4	34.2
National    Coalition Pty    KOK	8.9	7.9	13.3	20.3	49.7
Swedish    People's Pty    in Finland    RKP	9.7	9.8	13.6	19.5	47.4
Centre Pty    of Finland    CENT	10.1	12.3	18.1	23.5	36.0
Left Alliance    LEFT	12.0	15.7	22.0	26.7	23.6
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	13.0	17.2	20.1	22.5	27.1
True Finns    PS	15.5	20.1	21.6	21.5	21.3
Green    League    GREENS	16.8	14.6	16.7	19.1	32.7
Others	21.5	17.0	17.7	18.8	25.0
Communist Pty    of Finland    SKP	23.0	18.1	27.6	16.8	14.5

Examined by income decile, around 19 per cent of the candidates belong to the highest income decile. The deciles were formed on the basis of the income of all persons entitled to vote, that is, ten per cent of those entitled to vote belong to each decile. As many as one third of the Coalition Party and Swedish People's Party candidates belong to the highest income decile. The Left Alliance, True Finns and Communist Party candidates are on level with or at a lower level than persons entitled to vote. (Figure 21.)

Figure 21. Proportion of persons belonging to the highest income decile by party in Municipal elections 2012 and 2008, %

Source: Municipal Elections 2012, nomination of candidates and background analysis of candidates, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Kimmo Moisio 09 1734 3239, Jaana Asikainen 09 1734 3506, Kaija Ruotsalainen 09 1734 3599, vaalit@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 18.10.2012