Working Life Barometer
What is studied?
On assignment of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Statistics Finland carries out the Working Life Barometer, which examines the quality of working life and working conditions from the viewpoint of wage and salary earners.
The Working Life Barometer is one of the most significant studies describing working life in Finland. The barometer has been carried out since 1992. The longest time series cover almost 30 years. The themes of the study include organisation of work, working time and remuneration systems, learning at work, discrimination, harassment, bullying and violence at the workplace, work capacity and health, well-being at work, influencing possibilities, and labour market prospects.
The aim of the study is to produce information on the state of working life for decision-making on labour policy and development of working life. It also offers material and analyses for research in the field and brings reliable information to general discussion about the working conditions of Finnish wage and salary earners.
When and how are the data collected?
The study will be conducted in August to September 2023 in connection with Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey. The questions are asked after the Labour Force Survey questions with a web questionnaire or a telephone interview. The questions can be answered in Finnish, Swedish or English.
The sample of the survey is formed of employed wage and salary earners aged 18 to 64 who have responded to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey. Around 2,500 such wage and salary earners are drawn to the sample. The sample of the Labour Force Survey is drawn as a stratified random sample from Statistics Finland’s population database, which is based on the Central Population Register.
What are the data used for?
The data collected are used to compile statistics and studies, which are utilised in social decision-making. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment releases the data collected in the project to the Finnish Social Science Data Archive for research, teaching and study use later on.
Where are the data published?
The results of the Working Life Barometer will be published in spring 2024 on the web pages of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment: https://tem.fi/en/working-life-barometer. The previous reports can be found in the Government's publication archive Valto (https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/).
Data protection
Those handling data at Statistics Finland are legally obliged to secrecy. The Statistics Act obliges Statistics Finland to treat the obtained data as confidential. Statistics Finland removes all identification data from the data before they are released to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
Grounds for processing personal data
The grounds for processing of personal data is public interest as intended in the EU's General Data Protection Regulation.
Controller of the register
The controller is the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
Further information about the processing of personal data (incl. rights of data subjects) is available here: https://tem.fi/en/privacy-statements. Further information about data protection and rights of data subjects at: https://www.stat.fi/meta/tietosuoja/index.html.
Data to be combined with the collected data
To make responding easier, the collected data are supplemented with data available from administrative registers. The data are processed so that the respondent cannot be identified from the completed statistical data. The data to be combined are: sex, age, education, area.
Data release and storage
Statistics Finland releases the collected data to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment without direct identification data (name, date of birth, personal identity code, contact information). The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and Statistics Finland store the data until further notice. The data obtained by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment are also released to the Finnish Social Science Data Archive for research, teaching and study use. The Data Archive can deliver the data only to registered customers who undertake to observe the terms of use concerning research data.
Source for contact information
Address data: Statistics Finland's database based on the Population Information System.
Other contact information than telephone numbers: publicly available sources or given by the respondents. Contact information will not be released outside Statistics Finland.
Further information
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment:
Chief Specialist Maija Lyly-Yrjänäinen, tel. +358 29 5047297,
maija.lyly-yrjanainen(at)gov.fi
Statistics Finland:
Senior Statistician Päivi Hokka, tel. +358 29 551 3557,
paivi.hokka(at)stat.fi