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1. 1. Background analysis of candidates in the Parliamentary elections 2011

In the following review persons entitled to vote and background information on the persons nominated as candidates by the parties are examined against diverse statistical data. Data on those entitled to vote are based on the voting register established on 2 March 2011. The background information on the persons is based on statistical data from Statistics Finland's Population Statistics, such as statistics on employment and families. Of the persons entitled to vote only those resident in Finland are included in the review.

1.1. Candidates and persons entitled to vote by sex

The total number of candidates nominated in the Parliamentary elections is 2,315. Of these, 1,412 are men and 903 women. Of the parliamentary parties, the True Finns and the Centre Party have in relative terms the lowest proportions of women candidates (33.2% and 41.2%, respectively). Among the major parties, the True Finns are the only parliamentary party where the proportion of women lies below the average (39%). The highest proportions of women candidates are in the Green League (51.8%) and the National Coalition Party (44.8%). Only the Green League has more women than men candidates. The majority, or 51.6 per cent, of the persons entitled to vote are women.

Figure 1. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by sex and party in Parliamentary elections 2011

Table 1. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by sex and party in Parliamentary elections 2011

	Men	Women
Persons entitled to vote	48.4	51.6
Candidates	61.0	39.0
Centre    Party    of Finland    KESK	58.8	41.2
National    Coalition    Party    KOK	55.2	44.8
The Finnish    Social    Democratic    Party    SDP	56.7	43.3
Left-Wing    Alliance    LEFT	56.4	43.6
Green    League    GREENS	48.2	51.8
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	57.1	42.9
Swedish    People's    Party    in Finland    RKP	55.4	44.6
True    Finns    PS	66.8	33.2
Others	71.5	28.5

Figure 2. Women's proportion of persons entitled to vote and candidates by constituency in Parliamentary elections 2011

Table 2. Women's proportion of persons entitled to vote and candidates by constituency in Parliamentary elections 2011

Constituency	Proportion of women of candidates	Proportion of women of persons entitled to vote
Whole country	39.0	51.6
North Savo	42.4	51.1
Central Finland	41.8	51.0
Uusimaa	40.9	51.5
Helsinki	40.8	54.5
Varsinais-Suomi	40.3	52.2
Satakunta	40.2	51.4
North Karelia	38.9	50.5
Häme	38.6	51.9
Oulu	38.5	50.0
Pirkanmaa	36.7	51.6
Kymi	36.4	51.0
South Savo	36.2	51.3
Vaasa	36.1	50.7
Lapland	33.3	50.1
Åland	25.0	51.1

The lowest proportions of women candidates are in the constituencies of Åland (25.0%) and Lapland (33.3%). The proportions of women candidates are highest in the constituency of North Savo (42.4%). The proportions of women candidates are also higher than the average for the whole country in the constituencies of Central Finland, Uusimaa, Helsinki, Varsinais-Suomi and Satakunta.

The majority of persons entitled to vote are women in all constituencies. The strongest majority is in the constituency of Helsinki, where 54.5 per cent of the persons entitled to vote but only 40.8 per cent of the candidates are women.

The difference between the population structure and the candidate structure, or the under-representation of women, is greatest in the constituency of Åland, where 25 per cent of the candidates, but 51 per cent of the persons entitled to vote, are women. In the constituency of Lapland the proportion of female candidates is 33.3 per cent and 50.1 per cent of persons entitled to vote are women. The difference is smallest in the constituency of North Savo, 8.7 percentage points.

1.2. Foreign background

Around three per cent of the candidates have a foreign background. In all, 1.3 per cent of the persons entitled to vote have a foreign background. Persons whose mother tongue is not Finnish, Swedish or Sami are regarded as having a foreign background. The highest proportions of candidates with a foreign background were nominated by the Swedish People's Party (8.4%) and the Green League (5.3%). The True Finns have the lowest proportion of foreign-language speakers as candidates (0.8%).

Figure 3. Persons entitled to vote and candidates with a foreign background in Parliamentary elections 2011

1.3. Average age

The average age of men candidates has fallen by about two years from the previous Parliamentary elections. In contrast, women candidates are now six months older, on average, than in the previous Parliamentary elections. The average age of men candidates is now 46.2 years and that of women candidates 44.3 years. Women candidates are, on average, about two years younger than men candidates are.

Table 3. Average age of candidates by sex and constituency in Parliamentary elections 2011

Constituency	Men	Women
Whole country	46.2	44.3
Lapland	50.7	45.1
North Savo	47.1	46.1
Kymi	47.1	44.7
North Karelia	47.1	42.3
South Savo	47.0	43.5
Pirkanmaa	46.6	45.2
Häme	46.5	44.4
Oulu	46.3	43.0
Satakunta	46.1	43.9
Varsinais-Suomi	45.9	42.6
Uusimaa	45.8	45.3
Åland	45.2	48.5
Helsinki	44.9	43.2
Central Finland	44.3	44.5
Vaasa	44.2	45.2

Figure 4. Average age of candidates by sex and constituency in Parliamentary elections 2011

The average age of men entitled to vote is 48.1 years and that of women 50.9 years. Men candidates are a couple of years younger than men entitled to vote, but women candidates are nearly seven years younger than women entitled to vote.

The youngest women candidates were nominated in North Karelia (42.3 years) and Varsinais-Suomi (42.6 years). The youngest men candidates were nominated in the constituencies of Vaasa (44.2 years), Central Finland (44.3 years) and Helsinki (44.9 years). The oldest women candidates were nominated in Åland (48.5 years) and North Savo (46.1 years). Men candidates are oldest in Lapland (50.7 years). The largest age difference between men and women candidates is in Lapland, i.e. 5.6 years and the smallest in Central Finland and Uusimaa, where it is under one year.

Figure 5. Age structure of persons entitled to vote and candidates in Parliamentary elections 2011

Table 4. Age structure of persons entitled to vote and candidates in Parliamentary elections 2011

	–29	30–39	40–49	50–59	60+
Persons entitled to vote	18.5	14.7	16.7	17.8	32.3
Candidates	15.5	19.1	25.3	22.7	17.4
Centre    Party    of Finland    KESK	17.6	14.6	27.9	29.6	10.3
National    Coalition    Party    KOK	11.6	20.3	36.6	22.0	9.5
The Finnish    Social    Democratic    Party    SDP	12.6	22.7	26.9	27.3	10.5
Left-Wing    Alliance    LEFT	15.7	22.9	21.2	28.0	12.3
Green    League    GREENS	16.7	30.3	29.8	18.0	5.3
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	9.4	15.7	30.4	26.2	18.3
Swedish    People's    Party    in Finland    RKP	18.1	21.7	32.5	15.7	12.0
True    Finns    PS	5.9	16.0	26.9	27.3	23.9
Others	21.7	15.6	16.5	16.7	29.6

The Green League has the highest proportion, nearly one half, of the candidates younger than 40 years of age. The proportion of candidates younger than 40 years of age is higher than their proportion of the persons entitled to vote also in the Swedish People's Party, the Left Alliance and the Social Democratic Party. The lowest proportions of young candidates were nominated by the True Finns and the Christian Democrats. The Coalition Party has the highest proportion of candidates aged 40 to 49.

The True Finns (51.3%) and the Christian Democrats (44.5%) have the highest proportion of candidates aged over 50, the True Finns even more than among the persons entitled to vote (50.1%). In the Green League and the Swedish People's Party fewer than 30 per cent of the candidates are over the age of 50.

1.4. Employment

At the end of 2009, just over one half, or 53.4 per cent of all persons entitled to vote were employed, 6.7 per cent unemployed, 7.2 per cent students, and 28.8 per cent pensioners. Around 90 per cent of the candidates of the three major parties, the Centre Party, the Coalition Party and the Social Democratic Party, were employed, while in the True Finns the proportion of employed was 66.8 per cent. The Social Democrats, the Coalition Party and the Centre Party have virtually no unemployed candidates. In contrast, 11.3 per cent of the True Finns have been unemployed at the end of 2009. Around 71 per cent of all candidates were employed and about seven per cent were unemployed at the end of 2009.

Figure 6. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by main type of activity in Parliamentary elections 2011

In the major parties only six to nine per cent of the candidates are students or pensioners. The proportion of student candidates is highest in the Green League (10.1%) and the Left Alliance (8.5%). The proportion of pensioner candidates is highest among the True Finns (14.7%) and the Christian Democrats (7.9%).

Table 5. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by main type of activity in Parliamentary elections 2011

	Employed	Unemployed	Students	Pensioners	Others
Persons entitled to vote	53.4	6.7	7.2	28.8	3.8
Candidates	71.4	7.3	7.1	10.7	3.6
Centre    Party    of Finland    KESK	91.0	1.7	3.9	2.1	1.3
National    Coalition    Party    KOK	89.7	0.4	4.3	4.7	0.9
The Finnish    Social    Democratic    Party    SDP	88.2	3.4	4.6	3.4	0.4
Green    League    GREENS	79.8	5.3	10.1	2.2	2.6
Swedish    People's    Party    in Finland    RKP	79.5	6.0	4.8	4.8	4.8
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	78.5	6.3	3.1	7.9	4.2
Left-Wing    Alliance    LEFT	76.3	8.5	8.5	4.7	2.1
True    Finns    PS	66.8	11.3	2.5	14.7	4.6
Others	44.8	12.4	11.8	24.2	6.8

1.5. Family status

Of all persons entitled to vote nearly one quarter are parents of a family with children, or the family had at least one underage child. Nearly three per cent of them are single parents. In addition, around six per cent are parents with only children aged over 18 living at home. Around 33 per cent are childless couples, close on 30 per cent live alone without a family and around eight per cent of persons entitled to vote are young adults living at home.

Figure 7. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by family status in Parliamentary elections 2011

The candidates also differ in their family status from persons entitled to vote: considerably more of them are parents of a family with children and childless couples than is the case among persons entitled to vote. This is of course explained by that the age structure of candidates is younger than among persons entitled to vote. For a major part 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.

The True Finns, the Left Alliance and the Swedish People's Party have the lowest proportion of parents of families with children (37% to 42%), while in other major parties their proportion is 47 to 50 per cent. The proportions of young people living at home are highest among the candidates of the Centre Party (12.9%) and the Swedish People's Party (10.8%). The Green League and the Left Alliance have most candidates without a family, usually living alone, that is, nearly one quarter of all candidates.

Of all persons entitled to vote, 44.3 per cent are married and 14.5 per cent are cohabiting. In all, 48.5 per cent of the candidates are married and 13.9 per cent are cohabiting.

Christian Democrat candidates differ most from the voters in that 74.9 per cent of them are married. The Green League and the Left Alliance have the lowest proportions of married persons (43.0% and 47.9%, respectively) but their proportion of cohabiting couples is highest, about 19 per cent.

Table 6. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by family status in Parliamentary elections 2011

	Parent of a married/ cohabiting family	Single parent	Childless couple	Not belonging to a family	Youth living at home
Persons entitled to vote	26.2	4.1	32.7	28.7	8.3
Candidates	37.8	5.9	24.5	25.8	5.9
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	53.9	4.2	22.5	15.2	4.2
Centre    Party    of Finland    KESK	49.4	5.6	17.2	15.0	12.9
National    Coalition    Party    KOK	48.3	6.5	21.6	18.5	5.2
Swedish People's    Party    in Finland    RKP	47.0	3.6	16.9	21.7	10.8
The Finnish    Social    Democratic    Party    SDP	46.6	6.7	23.1	16.8	6.7
Green    League    GREENS	44.3	8.8	17.5	24.6	4.8
Left-Wing    Alliance    LEFT	39.4	5.9	28.0	24.2	2.5
True    Finns    PS	38.7	6.7	30.3	21.8	2.5
Others	17.3	5.0	29.6	42.1	6.0

1.6. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by number of children in 2011

Although the majority of persons entitled to vote and many candidates are not at the moment going through the everyday life of a family with children, it does not mean that they did not have experiences of it. Nearly 35 per cent of persons entitled to vote have never had children of their own, while about 31 per cent of the candidates are completely childless. The proportion of candidates without children is higher than average in parties with a large proportion of young candidates, such as the Green League and the Swedish People's Party. The Christian Democrats have the lowest proportion of candidates without children, only around 20 per cent.

Figure 8. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by number of biological children in Parliamentary elections 2011

Table 7. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by number of biological children in Parliamentary elections 2011

	0	1	2	3	4+
Persons entitled to vote	34.9	15.8	27.8	14.1	7.4
Candidates	31.2	14.2	25.5	18.5	10.6
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	19.9	9.9	28.3	19.4	22.5
True    Finns    PS	22.7	13.0	25.6	27.3	11.3
The Finnish    Social    Democratic    Party    SDP	23.5	18.9	34.5	16.8	6.3
National    Coalition    Party    KOK	25.0	9.1	31.9	22.8	11.2
Centre    Party    of Finland    KESK	27.9	9.9	27.0	20.6	14.6
Left-Wing    Alliance    LEFT	28.8	15.3	26.7	18.2	11.0
Green    League    GREENS	34.6	14.9	21.5	18.4	10.5
Swedish    People's    Party    in Finland    RKP	36.1	8.4	26.5	21.7	7.2
Others	43.1	17.6	19.2	13.1	7.1

1.7. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by educational level in 2011

Highly educated people are seeking entry to the Parliament. The educational level of the candidates of almost all parties is higher than that of the average population. Of the total population, 30.8 per cent rely on basic level education, but this is the case only for 11.9 per cent of the candidates. Of the candidates nominated by the major parties even fewer rely on basic level education: around five per cent for the Centre Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Coalition Party, slightly over six per cent for the Green League and the Social Democrats and nearly seven per cent for the Christian Democrats. Around 14 per cent of the True Finns candidates and about ten per cent of the Left Alliance candidates have basic level education only. More than one half of the candidates are educated to the tertiary level, but only about 29 per cent of those entitled to vote have attained that level. The candidates of the National Coalition Party have the highest level of education, as over 74 per cent of them have tertiary level education. The Left Alliance (39.3%) and the True Finns (43.6%) have the lowest proportion of candidates with tertiary level education.

Figure 9. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by educational level in Parliamentary elections 2011

Table 8. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by educational level in Parliamentary elections 2011

	Basic level	Secondary level	Lowest level tertiary	Lower university degree	Higher university degree, doctorate
Persons entitled to vote	30.8	40.7	11.3	8.8	8.4
Candidates	11.9	37.6	11.1	11.9	27.5
Centre    Party    of Finland    KESK	4.7	27.9	15.5	14.2	37.8
Swedish    People's    Party    in Finland    RKP	4.8	32.5	13.3	13.3	36.1
National    Coalition    Party    KOK	5.2	20.7	13.8	12.9	47.4
Green    League    GREENS	6.1	25.0	5.7	13.2	50.0
The Finnish    Social    Democratic    Party    SDP	6.3	41.2	9.7	15.1	27.7
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	6.8	29.8	15.7	13.1	34.6
Left-Wing    Alliance    LEFT	10.2	50.4	7.6	13.1	18.6
True    Finns    PS	13.9	42.4	13.4	10.5	19.7
Others	23.6	47.0	9.6	8.5	11.3

1.8. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by income subject to state tax in Parliamentary elections 2011

Income is the one variable that marks the greatest difference between candidates and voters. The median of the candidates' income subject to state tax is EUR 32,042, that of all persons entitled to vote EUR 21,561 and that of employed persons in 2009 EUR 29,897. Thus, the candidates' income compared with all persons entitled to vote is 1.5 times higher. Compared with working persons entitled to vote, candidates' income is around seven per cent higher. The median income of candidates in 2007 was EUR 30,116, which is 63 per cent higher than the income of persons entitled to vote.

The Coalition Party candidates have the biggest income difference with persons entitled to vote, as their income is around 2.5 times higher than among voters. The income of candidates in the Centre Party, the Social Democrats and the Swedish People's Party is also at least double that of those entitled to vote. Among the parliamentary parties, the Left Alliance and the True Finns are closest to the electorate, but even their income is around 50 per cent higher than among persons entitled to vote. Only for candidates of small parties, the income is below the level of the voters.

Figure 10. Persons to vote and candidates by median income subject to state tax (in euro) in Parliamentary elections in 2011 and 2007

Table 9. Persons to vote and candidates by median income subject to state tax (in euro) in Parliamentary elections 2011 and 2007

	2011	2007
Persons entitled to vote	21,561	18,528
Employed	29,897	26,105
Candidates	32,042	30,116
National    Coalition    Party    KOK	54,569	46,895
Centre    Party    of Finland    KESK	48,722	46,561
The Finnish    Social    Democratic    Party    SDP	46,225	43,542
Swedish    People's    Party    in Finland    RKP	43,026	43,020
Green    League    GREENS	35,118	27,461
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	32,850	30,757
True    Finns    PS	31,645	19,518
Left-Wing    Alliance    LEFT	31,480	31,535
Others	15,646	15,917

During the present parliamentary period the nominal income of all persons entitled to vote increased by 16.4 per cent, that of working persons by 14.5 per cent and that of candidates by 6.4 per cent. Income rose most for the candidates of the True Finns, by over 60 per cent, although the median income among them is still the lowest of all parliamentary parties. Among the Greens, the income went up by 27.1 per cent and among the Coalition Party by 16.4 per cent. In other parties, the change in median income is smaller than among all persons entitled to vote. The median income of Left Alliance and small party candidates even decreased from the previous elections.

Figure 11. Median income subject to state tax (in euro) of persons entitled to vote and candidates by constituency in Parliamentary elections 2011 ¹

¹ Åland is excluded from the examination due to the small number of observations.

Table 10. Median income subject to state tax (in euro) of persons entitled to vote and candidates by constituency in Parliamentary elections 2011 ¹⁾

Constituency	Persons entitled to vote	Candidates
Whole country	21,561	32,042
Satakunta	19,950	36,997
Kymi	20,669	36,167
Häme	20,958	35,166
Vaasa	20,148	34,902
Helsinki	24,547	33,641
Uusimaa	26,270	32,635
North Savo	19,042	32,091
Oulu	19,858	31,694
South Savo	18,547	30,564
Pirkanmaa	20,892	30,504
Central Finland	19,268	30,360
Lapland	19,127	28,542
North Karelia	17,520	26,527
Varsinais-Suomi	21,524	23,215

1) Åland is excluded from the examination due to the small number of observations.

The income level of those entitled to vote is the highest in the constituencies of Uusimaa and Helsinki. The candidates with the highest income come from Satakunta, Kymi and Häme. The income of the candidates and persons entitled to vote is closest to each other in the constituency of Varsinais-Suomi, where the candidates' median income was only EUR 1,700 higher than that of persons entitled to vote. The difference is biggest in Satakunta, where it is around EUR 17,000. Except for Varsinais-Suomi, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Pirkanmaa and Lapland the candidates' median income is at least 50 per cent higher than in the electorate of the area. Voters have the lowest income in North Karelia and South Savo, where the voters' median income remained under EUR 19,000. The candidates with the lowest income, EUR 23,000, come from the constituency of Varsinais-Suomi.

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.

The lowest quintile among persons entitled to vote earned in 2009 under EUR 9,708 and the highest quintile over EUR 36,333. Seven per cent of employed persons and 16 per cent of the candidates belong to the lowest quintile. Correspondingly, one third of employed persons and nearly 43 per cent of the candidates belong to the highest income quintile. Of the Coalition Party candidates 75 per cent and nearly two thirds of the Centre Party and SDP candidates belong to the highest income bracket. The proportion of low-income candidates in the parliamentary parties is highest for the Swedish People's Party, the Green League and the Left Alliance. Their low-income earning is explained by the candidates' younger than average age structure and larger student background than among others.

The income structure of small parties’ candidates resembles the average income structure of voters more closely than that of the major parties’ candidates. As many as nearly one third of the candidates of small parties belong to the lowest income bracket and only 14 per cent to the highest income bracket.

Figure 12. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by income subject to state tax (in euro) in Parliamentary elections 2011

Table 11. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by income subject to state tax (in euro) in Parliamentary elections 2011

	-9,707	-17,016	-25,995	-36,333	36,333+
Persons entitled to vote	20.0	20.0	20.0	20.0	20.0
Empolyed 2009	7.0	9.5	20.6	30.3	32.6
Candidates	16.0	12.6	12.4	16.4	42.6
Swedish    People's    Party    in Finland    RKP	16.9	4.8	8.4	15.7	54.2
Green    League    GREENS	15.8	8.3	15.8	12.7	47.4
Left-Wing    Alliance    LEFT	14.0	13.6	8.5	23.7	40.3
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	11.0	11.0	15.2	18.3	44.5
True    Finns    PS	10.1	16.0	13.4	23.9	36.6
Centre    Party    of Finland    KESK	6.4	6.9	7.7	14.2	64.8
The Finnish    Social    Democratic    Party    SDP	5.9	3.8	8.0	18.5	63.9
National    Coalition    Party    KOK	5.2	6.0	6.0	7.8	75.0
Others	31.6	21.9	17.5	14.9	14.2

Source: Parliamentary Elections 2011, preliminary data, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Kimmo Moisio (09) 1734 3239, Jaana Asikainen (09) 1734 3506, vaalit@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 18.4.2011