Most people in Finland now see paid work primarily as a way to finance other parts of their lives rather than as a source of personal fulfilment, according to a new survey published by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA.

The findings suggest attitudes towards work have shifted over the past 15 years, with financial security and work-life balance becoming more important than work itself.

According to EVA’s Values and Attitudes Survey, conducted in autumn 2025, 61 per cent of Finns said paid employment is mainly a way to fund activities they find more meaningful. That share has increased by 14 percentage points since 2010.

More than half of respondents, 56 per cent, described work simply as a means of earning a living. Only 14 per cent said they would continue doing their current job even if they no longer needed the income.

Despite the change in attitudes, work continues to hold an important place in many people’s lives.

Some 43 per cent of respondents said work is the most important part of a person’s life, while 46 per cent disagreed. EVA said the figures indicate that the role of work has returned to roughly the level recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ilkka Haavisto, EVA’s research director and the author of the analysis, said the findings do not point to a collapse in Finnish work ethic.

“Finns’ work ethic has not collapsed, but the intrinsic value of work has weakened,” Haavisto said.

“Work is increasingly done because it enables other parts of life. This is an important observation in a country where funding the welfare state depends on high employment and taxable work.”

The survey also found clear differences between age groups.

Among people aged 26 to 35, only 34 per cent considered work the most important aspect of life. By contrast, 72 per cent of respondents aged over 65 shared that view.

Younger adults, however, did not fit a simple picture of rejecting work altogether.

Among respondents aged 18 to 25, 43 per cent said work was the most important part of life, matching the national average. EVA said people born during the 1990s and early 2000s appeared to have halted the long-term decline in work-centred attitudes.

The study also highlighted a growing preference for free time.

Around 35 per cent of employed respondents said they would like to spend less time working, while only 10 per cent wanted to work more.

Meanwhile, 43 per cent said they would be willing to accept lower pay if it meant shorter working hours and more leisure time.

Haavisto said the results show that Finns are trying to balance several priorities rather than choosing between work and leisure.

“Finns are not simply divided into hardworking and lazy people,” he said. “They want income, free time and meaningful work at the same time.”

He added that the challenge for economic policy is to ensure work remains financially worthwhile and personally rewarding at a time when life outside work carries greater weight than before.

Workplace relationships were not among the strongest reasons people valued their jobs.

Just over one-third of respondents, 36 per cent, said work provided important friendships and a sense of community. One in five, 21 per cent, said their job had given them few or no friendships or feelings of belonging.

The survey was based on responses from 2,038 people aged 18 to 79 across mainland Finland. The data were collected between 7 and 20 October 2025 by Taloustutkimus using an online panel. The margin of error is between two and three percentage points.

HT