Citizens’ Pulse: Trust in healthcare and education continue their decline

Trust in healthcare remains on its downward path in the March Citizens’ Pulse survey, and has now hit a historic low at 58 per cent. The same is true of trust in the education system, which is now at 71 per cent.

“The most recent changes in citizens’ trust in healthcare and the education system are not very big on their own, but the long-term trend is cause for concern. Citizens’ trust was still very high two years ago, but since then, the figure has been trending steadily downwards,” says Juho Jyrkiäinen, Chief Specialist at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Experiences of fairness in society have also continued to decline according to the March survey. One year ago, 77 per cent of Finns felt society was at least somewhat fair, but now that figure is at 56 per cent. The number was 63 per cent in February. Citizens’ Pulse surveys have been conducted on a monthly basis since April 2020.

Less than half of low-income earners consider society fair

In the March survey, only 45 per cent of low-income earners said society was at least somewhat fair, with fewer women than men reporting this sentiment. The lowest figure for experiences of fairness in society was among people aged 60–74.

“Experiences of fairness in society have seen a clear decline among all respondent groups over the past year, but the drop has been most significant among the lower income groups, less than half of whom consider society fair,” Jyrkiäinen says.

Confidence in the future, which has been declining for a long time, has also dropped to a historic low in the March survey. Just 68 per cent of respondents now say they are at least fairly confident about the future. One year ago, that figure was 77 per cent.

Similarly, trust in the Government and trust in political parties have dropped to their lowest levels since the survey began. A total of 38 per cent now say they have a lot of trust in the Government, while 28 per cent feel this way about political parties.

The Citizens’ Pulse survey examines citizens’ opinions on current issues and government activities and asks about their mood and expectations for the future. The 54th round of the survey was conducted between 13 and 18 March 2024. The survey data was collected as an online survey from citizens aged 15 to 74 residing in mainland Finland. The data was collected by Statistics Finland. 

Inquiries: Juho Jyrkiäinen, Chief Specialist, Prime Minister’s Office, tel. +358 295 160 181