Home > Statistics > Municipal elections > 2017 > Nomination of candidates and background analysis of candidates > 1. Background analysis of candidates in the Municipal elections 2017

1. Background analysis of candidates in the Municipal elections 2017

In the following review, background information of persons entitled to vote and of the candidates nominated by the parties are examined. The data on persons entitled to vote derive from the voting register established on 22 February 2017 and the data on the candidates from the candidate register set up on 9 March 2017. The background data are based on statistical data from Statistics Finland, such as population, employment and family statistics and the Register of Completed Education and Degrees.

The candidates differ by age structure and sex 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.

Only the parliamentary parties are specified in the following examination. The candidates nominated by other parties and constituency associations are presented as one category “Others”.

1.1. Summary

Number of candidates decreases, average age increases

The number of candidates in the Municipal elections has been declining for a long time. Now, 33,618 candidates were nominated in the Municipal elections, which is 3,500 fewer than in 2012 and 6,100 fewer than in the 2000 elections. Only the Green League and the Christian Democrats in Finland were able to nominate more candidates than in the 2012 elections. Just like in previous years, the Centre Party of Finland has most candidates even though its number of the candidates has also declined from previous years.

The proportion of female candidates has remained at around 40 per cent already for a long time. Only the Green League has more female than male candidates. Around 58 per cent of its candidates are women. Among the parliamentary parties, the Finns Party has the least female candidates, 25 per cent.

Candidates are, on average, close on one year younger than persons entitled to vote The average age of the candidates has, however, risen faster than that of persons entitled to vote. Since 2000, the average age of the candidates has risen by 3.6 years. Over the same period, the average age of persons entitled to vote has risen by nearly three years.

One-half of the candidates were also candidates in the previous elections

Among all the candidates nominated by the parties over one-half were also candidates in the 2012 Municipal elections, primarily as candidates for the same party. Since the last elections, the Green League has renewed its list of candidates the most, 60 per cent of their candidates were not candidates in the previous Municipal elections.

Around one-fifth of the candidates are current councillors. The Centre Party has the most current councillors on its list, around 28 per cent of the party's candidates. Altogether 162 of the candidates are Members of Parliament.

The Centre Party candidates dominate in small municipalities measured by population with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants. In municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants as many as 40 per cent of all candidates were nominated by the Centre Party. In the largest municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants, the party distribution is clearly more even and no party has over 20 per cent of the candidates.

Persons with foreign background under-represented

Compared with persons entitled to vote, persons with foreign background are under-represented among candidates. Persons of foreign background, that is, persons, whose both parents were born abroad, represent close on six per cent of those entitled to vote and slightly over two per cent of candidates. The highest proportions of candidates with foreign background were nominated by the Swedish People's Party (4.2%) and the least by the Centre Party (1.2%).

Examined by native language, the result is similar. Clearly fewer candidates than persons entitled to vote speak a foreign language as their native language. There are 727 foreign-language speaking candidates. The largest group of foreign-language speaking candidates is formed by Russian speakers, 164 candidates, and the second largest by Estonian speakers, 72 candidates.

There are citizens from over 60 different countries among the candidates, even though the share of foreign citizens among all candidates is under one per cent. Four per cent of all persons entitled to vote are foreign citizens. Of the candidates, 263 persons are foreign citizens. A person can have more than one nationality. There are 462 candidates that are Finnish citizens with citizenship in another country as well. They represent 1.4 per cent of all candidates. Among all persons entitled to vote, around 1.7 per cent have dual citizenship.

Candidates are more highly educated and more actively in working life

As regards education, candidates differ clearly from persons entitled to vote. Nearly 90 per cent of the candidates have completed post-comprehensive level qualifications while 73 per cent of those entitled to vote have done so. This is largely explained by the different age structure of people entitled to vote and the candidates. The educational level is highest for the Green League candidates. More than one-half of them have tertiary level qualifications, while this is so for one-third of all candidates and one fifth of all persons entitled to vote.

The difference in the age structure between the candidates and persons entitled to vote is also reflected in the difference between the labour market position of candidates and persons entitled to vote: nearly 70 per cent of candidates are employed and around one-half of those entitled to vote. Nearly 30 per cent of those entitled to vote are, in turn, retired, while this is the case for 17 per cent of candidates. The employment rate is calculated as the share of employed persons in working-age population aged 18 to 64. The employment rate of the candidates is 78 per cent, while that of persons entitled to vote is around ten percentage points lower.

Viewed by socio-economic group, there are more self-employed persons among the candidates than among persons entitled to vote. The share of self-employed persons among employed candidates is 16.5 per cent and 10.5 per cent among persons entitled to vote. Most self-employed persons are found among Centre Party candidates, nearly 30 per cent, of whom more than one-half are farmers and forestry entrepreneurs. Among Coalition Party candidates good one-fifth are also self-employed.

The local government sector employs candidates more than persons entitled to vote. Around 31 per cent of employed candidates work in the local government sector, while among those entitled to vote, 23 per cent work for a local authority. Wage and salary earners in the central government sector are candidates particularly in larger municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants. In them, more than ten per cent of employed candidates work in the central government sector, while 6.5 per cent of all candidates and 5.8 per cent of persons entitled to vote work for the central government sector.

Good one-third of candidates live in a family with children

The candidates also differ in their family status from the persons entitled to vote: considerably more (36%) of candidates are parents of a family with children than among persons entitled to vote (23%). Less than 20 per cent of the candidates live alone, while around one-quarter of persons entitled to vote live alone. Differences in the family status are explained by the fact that the age structure of the candidates and persons entitled to vote differ from each other.

The current family status does not reveal how many of the candidates and of those entitled to vote have or have had children of their own. This can, however, be examined based on the number of children recorded in the Finnish Population Information System. 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. The candidates have 2.0 children, on average, and persons entitled to vote have 1.5 children. The number of children is highest among Christian Democrats, 2.4 children and lowest among Green League candidates, 1.6 children.

Highest income level among Coalition Party candidates

Candidates are more highly educated and a larger share of them are also working. This also partially explains that the candidates’ income level is higher than that of persons entitled to vote. The median for disposable monetary income among candidates in 2015 was EUR 26,100, while that of all persons entitled to vote was EUR 5,600 lower. Disposable monetary income refers to the monetary income after taxes that consists of earned income, property income, and transfer income.

The candidates’ income varies by party from EUR 31,200 in the Coalition Party to EUR 22,200 in the Finns Party. When the population entitled to vote is arranged according to income and divided into ten equal parts, the income deciles of the population entitled to vote are generated. Each of these has slightly under 440,000 persons. The highest-income decile of the population entitled to vote has at least EUR 38,000 at their disposal and the lowest income decile at most EUR 8,250 per year.

Of all candidates, 18 per cent belong to the highest income decile. Of the candidates, those representing the Coalition Party and the Swedish People's Party belong to the higher end of the income distribution. Thirty-six per cent of the male candidates and 25 per cent of the female candidates in the National Coalition Party belong to the highest income decile. Among the candidates of the Swedish People's Party, around 34 per cent of men and 19 per cent of women belong to the highest income decile.

One-tenth of all persons entitled to vote thus belong to the lowest income decile. Of the candidates, slightly fewer, around six per cent, belong to this decile. Only among female candidates nominated by constituency associations and other parties over ten per cent belong to the lowest income decile. For other parties, the shares fluctuate between 2.6 and nine per cent.

1.2. Candidates and persons entitled to vote by sex

Green League and the Christian Democrats increased their number of candidates

A total of 33,618 candidates were nominated for the Municipal elections. This is 3,506 fewer candidates than in 2012. Nearly all parties have a lower number of candidates than in the previous Municipal elections. Only the Green League and the Christian Democrats were able to nominate more candidates than in the 2012 elections. In the 2012 elections, the Green League had 2,299 candidates, now in the 2017 elections three hundred more, that is, 2,600 candidates. The Christian Democrats increased their number of candidates by around one hundred. The number of candidates decreased most in the National Coalition Party both in terms of number and in relative terms. As in previous years, the Centre Party of Finland (7,461) had the most candidates, even though its number of candidates is also lower than in the previous election. (Table 1)

Table 1. Number of candidates by party in Municipal elections 2008, 2012 and 2017

Party	Number of candidates			Change from the previous elections, %
	2008	2012	2017	2012	2017
Candidates total	38,509	37,124	33,618	-3.6	-9.4
Centre Party    of Finland    KESK	9,977	8,401	7,461	–15.8	–11.2
National    Coalition Party    KOK	7,628	6,874	5,739	–9.9	–16.5
Finns Party    PS	1,840	4,394	3,831	138.8	-12.8
Finnish    Social    Democratic Party    SDP	7,702	6,986	6,132	-9.3	-12.2
Green    League    VIHR	2,192	2,299	2,600	4.9	13.1
Left Alliance    VAS	4,112	3,506	3,203	-14.7	-8.6
Swedish    People's Party    in Finland    RKP	1,407	1,350	1,324	-4.1	-1.9
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	1,921	1,870	1,971	-2.7	5.4
Others	1,730	1,444	1,357	-16.5	-6.0

Women's share of the candidates remains at 40 per cent

Women make up 39.9 per cent of the candidates. The majority, or 51.2 per cent, of the persons entitled to vote are women. The proportion of female candidates rose by one percentage point from the 2012 Municipal elections. Only the Green League has more female than male candidates. Of its candidates, 57.9 per cent are women. Christian Democrats had the second most female candidates, where the share of women was 46.7 per cent and the Swedish People's Party had the third most, 43.7 per cent. The share of female candidates is around 40 per cent in the Social Democratic Party, the Left Alliance, the Centre Party, and the National Coalition Party. The Finns Party has the least female candidates, 25 per cent of candidates. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by sex in Municipal elections 2017, %

Women’s share of all candidates has remained at around 40 per cent throughout the 2000s. Among most parties, the share of female candidates has remained more or less on the same level. Only the Green League and the Left Alliance have clearly increased their share of female candidates in recent years. In the Green League, the share of female candidates has increased by seven percentage points from 2000 and in the Left Alliance by 5.6 percentage points. (Table 2)

Table 2. Women's proportion of persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) in Municipal elections 2000 to 2017, %

Party	2000	2004	2008	2012	2017
Persons entitled to vote	51.8	51.6	51.5	51.4	51.2
Candidates	38.2	39.9	40.4	38.8	39.9
Centre Party    of Finland    KESK	38.2	39.7	40.3	39.8	39.7
National    Coalition Party    KOK	39.1	40.4	40.3	39.1	39.0
Finns Party    PS	28.8	26.3	25.7	23.3	25.2
Finnish    Social    Democratic Party    SDP	37.7	39.2	40.8	40.4	40.9
Green    League    VIHR	50.7	52.9	56.8	56.8	57.9
Left Alliance    VAS	34.2	36.1	36.6	37.9	39.8
Swedish    People's Party    in Finland    RKP	39.9	43.5	42.9	43.5	43.7
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	46.9	47.2	48.2	45.3	46.7
Others	32.0	34.6	33.6	32.8	33.8

The percentage of female candidates is highest in the region of Uusimaa (43.4%) and lowest in Central Ostrobothnia (35.7%). In addition to Uusimaa, only the regions of Varsinais-Suomi, Kanta-Häme and Ostrobothnia have more female candidates than average. (Figure 2)

Figure 2. Women’s share of candidates by region in Municipal elections 2017, %

More than one-half were also candidates in the 2012 Municipal elections

Of all the candidates nominated by the parties, over one-half of the candidates were also candidates in the 2012 Municipal elections. Of all candidates, 2.6 per cent were candidates for some other party in the previous elections and around 46 per cent of the candidates were new candidates. The Green League has the most new candidates, among whose candidates 60 per cent are new. Among the candidates of the Social Democratic Party, nearly 60 per cent were also nominated in the previous elections either as candidates for the Social Democratic Party or for some other party. In both elections, close on three per cent of candidates has changed parties. (Figure 3)

Around one-fifth of all the candidates are current councillors. The Centre Party has most current councillors on its list, around 28 per cent of the party's candidates and the Green League has the least, close on nine per cent. Altogether 162 of the candidates are Members of Parliament.

Figure 3. Share of candidates nominated in the 2012 election and new candidates by party in the Municipal elections 2017, %

1.3. Age structure

Candidates grow older year by year

The average age of the candidates is now almost one year higher than in the previous elections and around 3.6 years older than the candidates in 2000. Female candidates are around three years younger than male candidates. The average age of male candidates is now 50.7 years and that of female candidates 47.8. Female candidates are, on average, four years younger than women entitles to vote, whereas male candidates two years older than men entitled to vote. The average age of persons entitled to vote has risen by close on one year since the previous elections and by nearly three years from 2000. On the day of the election, the average age of persons entitled to vote is now 48.9 for men and 51.5 for women. (Table 3)

The sex and age structure of candidates is very different from that of persons entitled to vote (Figures 4 and 5). The age pyramid of neither group is no longer a pyramid as the name indicates: the age structure of persons entitled to vote rather resembles a tower and that of candidates a one sided gyroscope, from which the missing of the youngest and oldest age groups as well as the dominance of men are visible. Most male candidates represent the age group of those aged 50 to 64 and most female candidates the age group of those aged 40 to 54.

Figure 4. Age distributions and average age of persons entitled to vote by sex in Municipal elections 2017, %

Figure 5. Age distributions and average age of candidates by sex in Municipal elections 2017, %

Examined by party, the Christian Democrats has the oldest candidates: Nearly 40 per cent of their candidates are aged 60 or over and the average age is 52.2 years. The Green League has the youngest candidates. Almost 45 per cent of them are aged under 40, and the average age of the candidates is 43.8 years. Around 29 per cent of all candidates are aged under 40 and around 31 per cent are aged 60 or over. (Figure 6, Table 3)

Figure 6. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by age group in Municipal elections 2017, %

Table 3. Average age of candidates by party in Municipal elections 2017

	Candidates
	Total	Men	Women
Persons entitled to vote	50.3	48.9	51.5
Candidates	49.5	50.7	47.8
Centre Party    of Finland    KESK	49.5	50.9	47.5
National    Coalition Party    KOK	49.0	49.8	47.6
Finns Party    PS	49.8	50.4	47.9
Finnish    Social    Democratic Party    SDP	51.4	52.7	49.7
Green    League    VIHR	43.8	44.6	43.1
Left Alliance    VAS	50.4	51.9	48.2
Swedish    People's Party    in Finland    RKP	47.9	49.2	46.2
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	52.2	52.4	51.9
Others	48.9	49.7	47.2

Women’s enthusiasm to stand as candidates decreases after the age of 40

Altogether 0.9 per cent of men and 0.6 per cent of women are nominated as candidates. In all age groups, fewer women are nominated than men. The share of candidates of the age group raises sharply for women to about the age of 40 and for men to the age of 50. At about the age of 40 women’s participation rate is only slightly lower than men’s but the difference grows after that. While women’s participation rate makes a downturn after the age of 40, men’s participation rate only drops at the age of 70 to the same level as for 40-year-old men.

The proportion of male candidates per age group is at its highest in ages 58 to 64, when around 1.4 to 1.5 per cent of each 1-year age group are candidates. Among women, most stand as candidates between the ages 40 to 50, 0.9 to 1.1 per cent of the age group. (Figure 7)

Figure 7. Share of candidates in the age group by sex in Municipal elections 2017, %

In small municipalities, Centre Party candidates in the municipalities

The Centre Party candidates dominate in small municipalities measured by population with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants. In municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants as much as 40 per cent of all candidates were nominated by the Centre Party. In municipalities of this size category, the Social Democratic Party and the National Coalition Party have nominated the second and third most candidates. In large municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants the proportion of the Centre Party is slightly over ten per cent of all candidates. (Table 4)

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, the Social Democratic Party’s share of candidates is good one-fifth and the National Coalition Party’s close on one-fifth.

In the largest municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants the party 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 15.5 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 the Finns Party candidates does not vary much by the size of the municipality.

Table 4. Party distribution of candidates by size of municipality in Municipal elections 2017, %

Party	Total	Size category of municipality (population at the end of 2016)
		- 4,999		5,000 - 9,999	10,000 - 19,999	20,000 - 49,999	50,000 - 99,999	100,000+
Candidates	100.0	100.0		100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Centre   Party    of Finland    KESK	22.2	40.0		28.5	23.0	15.4	15.5	10.5
National    Coalition    Party    KOK	17.1	15.0		16.1	17.9	18.6	20.0	15.5
Finns Party    PS	11.4	13.3		10.0	12.3	11.0	10.2	11.6
Finnish    Social    Democratic    Party    SDP	18.2	14.2		17.6	19.1	21.8	21.8	15.5
Green    League    VIHR	7.7	2.4		4.1	5.7	9.9	10.7	13.9
Left   Alliance   VAS	9.5	6.0		9.2	8.1	11.5	8.8	12.7
Swedish    People's    Party    in Finland    RKP	3.9	1.3		5.8	5.5	2.6	3.5	4.7
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	5.9	3.6		4.8	6.1	6.2	6.7	7.9
Others	4.0	4.4		3.8	2.2	2.9	2.9	7.6

1.4. Foreign background

Good two per cent of candidates are foreign-language speakers

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 (5.6%) slightly exceeds their proportion of persons entitled to vote (4.7%). Swedish-speaking people are more active in the region of Uusimaa, where their proportion of the candidates is 13.4 per cent and that of the persons entitled to vote is 8.0 per cent.

In all, 5.7 per cent of all persons entitled to vote speak another language than Finland's national languages. Considerably fewer of the candidates, just 2.2 per cent are foreign-language speakers. The share of foreign-language speakers among candidates has, however, grown slightly from the 2012 elections when the share of foreign-language speaking candidates of all candidates was 1.8 per cent.

Among all candidates, the under-representation of foreign-language speakers is 3.5 percentage points. This means that there are fewer foreign-language speaking candidates than foreign-language speaking persons entitled to vote. The under-representation 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. In Uusimaa, the share of foreign-language speakers is 7.1 and in Varsinais-Suomi 3.7 percentage points lower than among persons entitled to vote. (Table 5)

Of national language speakers, there are more Sami speakers as candidates than average. Of Sami speakers entitled to vote, 2.5 per cent stand as candidates. Of all persons entitled to vote, on average, 0.8 per cent are candidates. (Table 6)

Table 5. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by native language by region in Municipal elections 2017, %

Region	Persons entitled to vote			Candidates
	Finnish/ Sami	Swedish	Other language	Finnish/ Sami	Swedish	Other language
MAINLAND FINLAND	89.6	4.7	5.7	92.2	5.6	2.2
Uusimaa	81.1	8.0	10.9	82.8	13.4	3.8
- Greater Helsinki    region	80.9	5.6	13.5	82.9	11.6	5.5
Varsinais-Suomi	88.7	5.7	5.7	91.1	6.9	2.0
Satakunta	96.9	0.3	2.7	98.5	0.3	1.2
Kanta-Häme	96.3	0.4	3.4	98.7	0.4	0.9
Pirkanmaa	95.7	0.4	4.0	98.1	0.3	1.6
Päijät-Häme	95.6	0.3	4.1	98.3	0.2	1.5
Kymenlaakso	94.2	0.8	5.0	95.7	1.3	3.0
South Karelia	94.8	0.2	5.0	96.7	0.0	3.3
Etelä Savo	97.3	0.2	2.6	98.0	0.0	2.0
Pohjois Savo	97.5	0.1	2.4	97.9	0.3	1.8
North Karelia	96.8	0.1	3.1	97.9	0.2	1.9
Central Finland	97.1	0.2	2.7	98.1	0.0	1.9
South Ostrobothnia	97.7	0.3	1.9	98.1	0.3	1.6
Ostrobothnia	45.5	49.5	5.1	44.4	51.7	3.9
Central Ostrobothnia	88.5	9.2	2.3	89.9	8.6	1.5
North Ostrobothnia	97.6	0.2	2.2	98.5	0.4	1.1
Kainuu	97.7	0.1	2.2	97.9	0.2	1.9
Lapland	97.6	0.2	2.2	98.4	0.2	1.4

Foreign-language speakers are considerably less often candidates. Of the candidates, 727 are foreign-language speakers. It is 0.3 per cent of the foreign-language speakers entitled to vote. The largest foreign-language speaking group among candidates is Russian speakers, 164 candidates, and the second largest is Estonian speakers, 72 candidates. (Table 6)

The Green League has the most foreign-language speaking candidates, 4.2 per cent of candidates and Christian Democrats has the second most, 3.4 per cent. The Centre Party has the lowest share of foreign-language speaking candidates, 1.3 per cent. (Figure 8)

Table 6. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by native language, largest language groups specified, in Municipal elections 2017, %

Language	Persons entitled to vote	Candidates
		Quantity	% of persons entitled to vote
All languages in total	4,390,971	33,607	0.8
Finnish	3,930,811	30,965	0.8
Swedish	208,424	1,877	0.9
Sami	1,458	36	2.5
Foreign-language speakers in total.	250,278	727	0.3
Russian	57,531	164	0.3
Estonian	39,122	72	0.2
Arabic	10,489	44	0.4
English	14,058	40	0.3
Kurdish	8,057	40	0.5
Turkish	5,380	39	0.7
Somali	10,199	31	0.3
Persian	6,267	22	0.4
Spanish	5,969	21	0.4
German	5,425	21	0.4
Bosnian	1,476	16	1.1
Albanian	3,228	14	0.4
French	6,013	12	0.2
Hungarian	2,383	12	0.5
Dutch	1,442	12	0.8
Portuguese	1,907	11	0.6

Figure 8. Foreign-language speakers' share of persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) in Municipal elections 2017, %

Candidates of foreign background still relatively rare

The foreign background of the population can also be examined by the person's origin. Of the persons entitled to vote, 94.1 and of candidates 97.8 per cent are of Finnish background, that is persons of whose parents at least one was born in Finland. Thus, close on six per cent of persons entitled to vote and good two per cent of candidates are of foreign background. The share of persons with foreign background among persons entitled to vote has grown more than among candidates since 2008. (Table 7)

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 (0.2 %) 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, 5.7 per cent belong to this group, while this is so for only 2.2 per cent of the candidates.

Table 7. Share of persons with foreign background (persons whose parents were born abroad) among candidates in Municipal elections 2017, %

	Persons entitled to vote			Candidates
	Persons	%		Persons	%
2008
Total	4,196,522	100.0		38,505	100.0
Persons with Finnish background	4,061,481	96.8		37,929	98.5
Parents born abroad, person in Finland	3,212	0.1		30	0.1
Parents born abroad, person born abroad	131,829	3.1		546	1.4
2012
Total	4,303,061	100.0		37,124	100.0
Persons with Finnish background	4,111,553	95.6		36,402	98.1
Parents born abroad, person in Finland	5,086	0.1		31	0.1
Parents born abroad, person born abroad	186,422	4.3		691	1.9
2017
Total	4,394,748	100.0		33,618	100.0
Persons with Finnish background	4,135,837	94.1		32,862	97.8
Parents born abroad, person in Finland	9,512	0.2		23	0.1
Parents born abroad, person born abroad	249,399	5.7		733	2.2

Examined by party, the number of candidates with foreign background is highest in the Swedish People's Party, 4.2 per cent of the candidates, and lowest in the Centre Party (1.2 %) and the Coalition Party (1.8 %). The Green League, the Christian Democrats, the Communist Party, and the Left Alliance also have more than average candidates with foreign background. (Figure 9)

Figure 9. Proportion of persons with foreign background (persons whose both parents were born abroad) by party in Municipal elections 2017, %

Number of candidates with dual citizenship 462

There are citizens from over 60 different countries among the candidates even though the share of foreign citizens among all candidates is under one per cent. Four per cent of all persons entitled to vote are foreign citizens. Of the candidates, 263 persons are foreign citizens. The biggest nationality group is Estonian with 50 candidates, the second largest are Swedish with 30 and Russian with 28 candidates.

There are 462 candidates that are Finnish citizens with citizenship in another country as well. They represent 1.4 per cent of all candidates. Of all persons entitled to vote, there are nearly 75,000 persons with dual citizenship or 1.7 per cent. Among the candidates the most common second citizenship is Russian, 105 persons and Swedish, 58 persons.

Table 8. Persons entitled to vote and candidates by nationality in Municipal elections 2017

Nationality	Persons entitled to vote			Candidates
	1st nationality	2nd nationality		1st nationality	2nd nationality
All nationalities	4,391,009	74,733		33,618	462
Finnish citizens	4,217,752	..		33,355	..
Foreign citizens	173,257	74,733		263	462
Russian	22,637	22,266		28	105
Swedish	6,293	4,309		30	58
Turkish	3,383	2,254		..	37
Iranian	2,101	3,100		..	25
Estonian	40,290	3,260		50	19
German	3,763	1,595		..	17
Afghan	2,262	1,885		..	10
Dutch	1,249	303		10	..

1.5. Educational level

Green League candidates have the highest level of education

As regards education, candidates differ clearly from persons entitled to vote. Nearly 90 per cent of the candidates have completed post-comprehensive level qualifications while 73 per cent of those entitled to vote have done so. This is partially explained by the fact that there are very few representatives of the oldest age groups among the candidates whose educational level is usually lower than for younger persons. Of persons entitled to vote, 31 per cent have at least lowest level tertiary education and of the candidates this is so for 46 per cent. (Figure 10)

The educational level is highest for the Green League candidates. More than one-half of them have tertiary level qualifications, while this is so for one-third of all candidates and around 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 2017, %

The educational level of the candidates reflects the differences in the educational structure of different areas. In the region of Uusimaa, the proportion of highly educated is higher than in the rest of the country both among the persons entitled to vote and the candidates (Figure 11). In Uusimaa, over 40 per cent of candidates have tertiary level qualifications. In other regions, the share of candidates with tertiary level qualifications is below 35 per cent.

Figure 11. Proportion of persons with tertiary level qualifications among persons entitled to vote and candidates by region in Municipal elections 2017, %

1.6. Labour market position

Almost one-fifth of candidates are pensioner s

Sixty-eight per cent of the candidates are employed, and the proportion of unemployed persons is the same as among persons entitled to vote, slightly over eight per cent. In turn, there are clearly fewer pensioners among the candidates, only close on 17 per cent. 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 12)

Around one-half of persons entitled to vote, are working, eight per cent are unemployed and close on 30 per cent are pensioners. Seven per cent of persons entitled to vote are studying and around four per cent are otherwise in the inactive population.

The number of employed persons is highest among the Coalition Party, Swedish People's Party and Centre Party candidates, of whom around 75 per cent are working. In these parties unemployment is rarer than average. The Green League has most students, as nine per cent of their candidates are students. The Christian Democrats, Left Alliance and Finns Party have the most retired candidates, as over one-fifth of their candidates are pensioners.

Figure 12. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by main type of activity in Municipal elections 2017, %

Candidates’ employment rate 78 per cent

The employment rate is calculated as the ratio of employed persons aged 18 to 64 to the population of the same age. Of all candidates aged 18 to 64, altogether 78 per cent are employed. The employment rate of persons entitled to vote is ten percentage points lower. The employment rates of the candidates resemble the general employment rates in the regions. Where the employment rate of the 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, 73.5 per cent, and there over 83 per cent of the candidates are working. Correspondingly in North Karelia where the general employment rate is lowest in the country, the employment rate of candidates is also lower than the average. (Figure 13, Table 9)

The employment rates of the candidates are closest to those entitled to vote in Uusimaa and Central Finland, where the employment rate of the candidates is 7.8 percentage points higher than that of persons entitled to vote. The difference between employment rates is largest in Päijät-Häme, that is, 13.6 percentage points. There the employment rate of the candidates is 79.5 per cent and that of persons entitled to vote 65.8 per cent.

Figure 13. Employment rate of persons entitled to vote and candidates (aged 18 to 64) by region in Municipal elections 2017, %

Table 9. Employment rate of persons entitled to vote and candidates (aged 18 to 64) by region in Municipal elections 2017, %

Region	Both sexes		Men		Women
	Persons entitled to vote	Candidates	Persons entitled to vote	Candidates	Persons entitled to vote	Candidates
Mainland Finalnd	67.8	77.6	66.2	76.8	69.3	78.7
Uusimaa	71.3	79.1	70.3	79.6	72.3	78.4
Varsinais-Suomi	67.8	77.8	66.1	76.3	69.4	79.7
Satakunta	66.9	78.6	65.3	77.5	68.7	80.2
Kanta-Häme	69.8	80.9	68.6	79.2	71.0	83.1
Pirkanmaa	66.4	77.0	64.9	76.4	68.1	77.8
Päijät-Häme	65.8	79.5	64.6	78.3	67.1	81.3
Kymenlaakso	63.5	72.4	61.3	72.7	65.8	71.9
South Karelia	65.1	77.5	62.9	76.9	67.5	78.4
Etelä Savo	64.8	77.1	62.0	77.7	67.8	76.3
Pohjois Savo	64.8	77.8	62.6	77.1	67.1	78.7
North Karelia	61.4	73.0	58.7	69.8	64.3	78.2
Central Finland	63.8	71.5	62.4	71,0	65.1	72.3
South Ostrobothnia	69.1	82.5	67.6	81.8	70.6	83.7
Ostrobothnia	73.5	83.2	72.3	82.0	74.8	84.8
Central Ostrobothnia	70.2	80.3	69.8	80.5	70.5	80.0
North Ostrobothnia	64.5	76.7	63.4	74.9	65.6	79.2
Kainuu	62.6	74.3	58.9	73.9	66.7	74.8
Lapland	63.9	74.3	61.0	72.4	67.0	76.9

The Centre Party and Coalition Party have the most self-employed candidates

Of all employed candidates nearly 30 per cent and of employed persons entitled to vote around 20 per cent are upper-level employees. Most salaried employees, nearly one-half of employed candidates, are found in the Green League. Also in the Swedish People’s Party and the Coalition Party, nearly 40 per cent of candidates are upper-level employees. The number of salaried employees is lowest among the candidates of the Finns Party (13.5%) and the Left Alliance (19.6%). (Figure 14)

Of all employed candidates, 16.4 per cent are self-employed and of all persons entitled to vote 10.5 per cent. The most self-employed persons are found among Centre Party candidates (28.4%) of whom more than one-half are farmers and forestry entrepreneurs. Among the Coalition Party candidates good one-fifth are also self-employed, however, focusing more on other self-employed persons than farmers and forestry entrepreneurs. The proportion of workers is highest among the Finns Party and Left Alliance candidates, good one-third, and among the Social Democrats, about 31 per cent.

Figure 14. Employed persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by socio-economic position in the Municipal elections 2017, %

Public sector employs candidates more than persons entitled to vote

Of the candidates 78 per cent are employed. Around 46 per cent of them are private sector wage and salary earners, 16 per cent are self-employed, 6.5 per cent work for central government and 31 per cent for local government. Employer type varies significantly by party. The share of private sector wage and salary earners is highest among the Left Alliance, Finns Party and Social Democratic Party candidates, of whom more than one-half work in the private sector. The lowest proportion of private sector wage and salary earners is found among the Centre Party candidates (36%).

Thirty per cent of the Centre Party candidates are entrepreneurs, the majority of whom work in agriculture. The Social Democratic Party has the least self-employed persons (5.2%). The public sector employs the most Green League candidates: 36 per cent of the candidates receive their pay from local government and 9.4 per cent from central government. The next highest proportion of public sector employees is found among the Social Democrats, of whom 39 per cent are employed by local and 5.5 per cent by central government. The share of public sector candidates is lowest for the Finns Party of whom fewer than 30 per cent work in the public sector. (Figure 15)

Figure 15. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by employer sector in Municipal elections 2017, %

The public sector employs candidates most in the largest municipalities with over 50,000 inhabitants. In these municipalities, around 40 per cent of the candidates or even more work in the local or central government sector. In these municipalities, especially the share of those working in the central government sector is higher than in smaller municipalities. In small municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, the share of self-employed persons among employed candidates is nearly one-quarter. (Table 10)

Table 10. Candidates by employer sector and size of municipality in Municipal elections 2017, %

Size category of municipality	Total	Public sector			Private sector	Self-employed persons
		Total	Local government	Central government
Persons entitled to vote
Total	100.0	28.9	23.1	5.8	60.4	10.5
-1,999	100.0	30.1	26.9	3.2	46.7	22.8
2,000-4,999	100.0	29.8	26.7	3.2	49.2	20.7
5,000-9,999	100.0	29.4	25.5	3.9	54.2	16.2
10,000-19,999	100.0	28.5	24.7	3.8	57.9	13.5
20,000-49,999	100.0	27.9	23.4	4.5	61.6	10.3
50,000-99,999	100.0	32.5	26.3	6.2	57.9	9.5
100,000+	100.0	27.9	20.3	7.7	64.6	7.5
Candidates
Total	100.0	37.8	31.3	6.5	45.6	16.4
-1,999	100.0	37.8	33.8	4.0	35.6	26.6
2,000-4,999	100.0	35.6	31.1	4.4	39.7	24.6
5,000-9,999	100.0	35.5	30.7	4.8	43.0	21.4
10,000-19,999	100.0	37.6	32.7	4.9	44.5	17.9
20,000-49,999	100.0	37.2	30.9	6.3	49.7	13.0
50,000-99,999	100.0	43.1	34.8	8.3	45.0	11.8
100,000+	100.0	39.7	28.6	11.1	51.7	8.4

1.7. Family status

Good one-third of candidates are parents of a family with children

The candidates also differ in their family status from the persons entitled to vote: considerably more (36%) of the candidates are parents of a family with children than among persons entitled to vote (23%) and fewer candidates live alone (18%) than among persons entitled to vote (25%). 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 16, Table 11)

The Green League has the most candidates that are parents of a family with children, close on 45 per cent. Among the Coalition Party and Centre Party candidates, nearly 40 per cent are parents of a family with children, The Left Alliance has the least candidates that still have children aged under 18 living at home. The Swedish People’s Party has the most young people aged under 25 still living at home (5.4%) and the Finns Party has the most persons living alone (24%) among their candidates.

Figure 16. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by family type in Municipal elections 2017, %

Table 11. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by family status in Municipal elections 2017, %

Party	All total	Families with children (aged under 18)		Childless couple	Living alone	Youth living at home	Other
		Parent of a married/cohabiting family	Single- supporter household
Persons entitled to vote	100.0	20.4	2.7	37.7	24.6	5.,3	9.3
Candidates	100.0	31.8	4.1	37.0	18.3	2.4	6.4
Centre Party    of Finland    KESK	100.0	35.8	3.3	37.2	14.0	2.9	6.8
National    Coalition Party    KOK	100.0	36.0	4.0	36.6	14.5	3.3	5.5
Finns Party    PS	100.0	29.2	4.3	32.5	24.4	1.4	8.3
Finnish    Social    Democratic Party    SDP	100.0	28.4	4.2	41.7	19.3	1.6	4.8
Green    League    VIHR	100.0	37.3	7.3	26.3	19.7	28	6.7
Left Alliance    VAS	100.0	22.4	4.6	40.4	24.3	1.1	7.2
Swedish    People's Party    in Finland    RKP	100.0	34.1	3.2	35.9	14.7	5.4	6.8
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	100.0	30.4	2.8	42.9	17.0	1.5	5.4
Others	100.0	25.8	4.1	34.5	24.9	2.0	8.6

1.8. Number of children

Candidates have more children than 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. This can, however, be examined based on the number of children recorded in the Finnish Population Information System.

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 Green League candidates (Figure 17).

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 18 per cent for the Social Democrats to 30 per cent for the Green League.

Figure 17. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by number of children in Municipal elections 2017, %

On average, the candidates have two children. 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. 2.4 children and lowest among the Green League candidates, 1.6 children. Men entitled to vote have slightly fewer children than women, but there are not much of a difference between sexes among the candidates. (Table 12)

Table 12. Persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) by number of children (on average) in Municipal elections 2017

Party	Total	Males	Females
Persons entitled to vote	1.5	1.4	1.6
Candidates	2.0	2.0	2.0
Centre Party    of Finland    KESK	2.3	2.4	2.3
National    Coalition Party    KOK	2.0	2.0	1.9
Finns Party    PS	1.9	1.9	2.1
Finnish    Social    Democratic Party    SDP	1.9	1.9	2.0
Green    League    VIHR	1.6	1.5	1.7
Left Alliance    VAS	1.8	1.7	1.8
Swedish    People's Party    in Finland    RKP	1.9	1.8	1.9
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	2.4	2.4	2.3
Others	1.7	1.7	1.8

1.9. Income level

Candidates’ income level higher than that of persons entitled to vote

The following examines the persons entitled to vote and the candidates by their disposable income. The income data derive from the latest taxation data from 2015. Disposable monetary income refers to the monetary income after taxes that consists of earned income, property income, and transfer income.

Candidates are more highly educated and a larger share of them are also working than among persons entitled to vote. This partly explains why their income level is also higher than that of persons entitled to vote. The median disposable income of persons entitled to vote was EUR 20,500 in 2015, while that of candidates was EUR 26,100. The candidates' disposable income is, on average, 27 per cent higher than of persons entitled to vote. Disposable income is highest in Uusimaa both for persons entitled to vote (EUR 22,900 per year) and for candidates (EUR 28,300 per year). (Figure 18, Table 13)

The income differential between the candidates and persons entitled to vote is largest in South Ostrobothnia, South Karelia and Ostrobothnia, where the median income of the candidates is over EUR 6,500 higher than that of persons entitled to vote. The income differential is smallest in Lapland, North Karelia, Uusimaa and Central Finland, under EUR 5,500.

 Figure 18. Median disposable income (EUR per year) of persons entitled to vote and candidates by region in Municipal elections 2017

Table 13. Median disposable income (EUR per year) of persons entitled to vote and candidates by region in Municipal elections 2017, %

Region	Persons entitled to vote			Candidates
	Both sexes	Men	Women	Both sexes	Men	Women
Mainland Finland	20,503	22,131	19,293	26,076	26,586	25,450
Uusimaa	22,916	26,636	21,631	28,296	29,134	27,020
Varsinais-Suomi	20,061	21,634	18,913	26,420	26,719	26,080
Satakunta	19,605	21,541	18,114	25,987	27,058	24,781
Kanta-Häme	20,680	22,507	19,274	27,081	27,036	27,280
Pirkanmaa	19,951	21,736	18,686	26,151	26,846	25,416
Päijät-Häme	19,363	21,159	18,144	25,886	26,588	25,062
Kymenlaakso	19,741	21,861	18,155	25,794	26,730	24,607
South Karelia	19,490	21,524	18,009	26,291	28,001	24,248
Etelä Savo	18,649	19,698	17,757	24,926	25,411	24,222
Pohjois Savo	19,082	20,279	18,119	24,755	25,067	24,265
North Karelia	18,162	19,052	17,468	23,424	23,465	23,142
Central Finland	19,071	20,633	17,919	24,521	24,972	23,655
South Ostrobothnia	19,352	20,737	18,268	26,330	26,610	26,092
Ostrobothnia	20,507	22,662	18,794	27,192	28,217	26,154
Central Ostrobothnia	19,878	22,036	18,232	25,529	25,673	25,505
North Ostrobothnia	19,954	21,455	18,794	25,887	26,164	25,525
Kainuu	18,693	19,606	17,874	24,241	24,553	23,713
Lapland	19,510	20,538	18,717	24,536	24,816	24,091

Candidates from the National Coalition Party have the highest income

The candidates’ income varies by party from EUR 31,200 in the Coalition Party to EUR 22,000 in the Finns Party. The median income of candidates from the Swedish People’s Party is EUR 29,500, EUR 26,900 for the Centre Party and EUR 26 600 for the Social Democratic Party. Compared with persons entitled to vote, the candidates of the Coalition Party have over EUR 10,000 more at their disposal per year. The candidates for the Finns Party are closest to persons entitled to vote in terms of their income level. Their annual disposable income is EUR 1,700 higher than that of persons entitled to vote. (Figure 19, Table 14)

Figure 19. Median disposable income (EUR) of persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) in Municipal elections 2017

Table 14. Median disposable income (EUR per year) of persons entitled to vote and candidates (by party) in Municipal elections 2017

Party	Median income (EUR/year)
	Total	Men	Women
Persons entitled to vote	20,503	22,131	19,293
Candidates	26,076	26,586	25,450
Centre Party    of Finland    KESK	26,932	27,687	26,089
National    Coalition Party    KOK	31,190	32,789	29,328
Finns Party    PS	22,225	22,534	21,550
Finnish    Social    Democratic Party    SDP	26,552	26,974	25,943
Green    League    VIHR	25,478	25,557	25,450
Left Alliance    VAS	23,102	23,410	22,750
Swedish    People's Party    in Finland    RKP	29,483	31,130	27,585
Christian    Democrats    in Finland    KD	23,610	24,668	23,002
Others	22,199	21,399	22,956

When the population entitled to vote is arranged according to income and divided into ten equal parts, the income deciles of the population entitled to vote are generated. Each of these has slightly under 440,000 persons. The highest income decile of the population entitled to vote has at least EUR 38,000 at their disposal and the lowest income decile at most EUR 8,250.

Of all candidates, 18 per cent belong to the highest income decile. Of the candidates, those representing the National Coalition Party and the Swedish People's Party in Finland belong to the higher end of the income distribution. Thirty-six per cent of the male candidates and 25 per cent of female candidates in the National Coalition Party belong to the highest income decile. Among the candidates of the Swedish People's Party, around 28 per cent of men and 19 per cent of women belong to the highest income decile. (Figure 20)

There are fewer women in the highest income decile both among persons entitled to vote and candidates. The biggest difference between sexes is found among the Swedish People's Party, the Coalition Party and the Centre Party candidates. In these parties, there are over ten percentage points more men in the highest income decile than women. The difference is smallest among Green League candidates where around three percentage points more men than women belong to the highest income decile.

Figure 20. Proportion of persons belonging to the highest income decile by party in Municipal elections 2017, %

Around six per cent of candidates belong to the lowest income decile. Of the candidates of parties outside the Parliament and constituency associations, close on ten per cent belong to the lowest- income decile, and of the Swedish People's Party candidates, 8.9 per cent of men and 8.2 per cent of women. The Social Democrats have the least candidates belonging to the lowest income decile, only 2.6 per cent of female candidates and four per cent of male candidates. (Figure 21)

The share of men is also higher in the lowest income decile than that of women both among persons entitled to vote and candidates. Only among the Left Alliance and Green League candidates, more female candidates belong to the lowest income decile than male candidates. However, the difference between sexes is not as large as in the shares of those belonging to the highest income decile.

Figure 21. Proportion of persons belonging to the lowest income decile by party in Municipal elections 2017, %

Source: Municipal Elections 2017, nomination of candidates and background analysis of candidates, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Sami Fredriksson 029 551 2696, Kaija Ruotsalainen 029 551 3599, Jaana Asikainen 029 551 3506, vaalit@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 31.03.2017