Some 61% of consumers in Finland view paid work as a means of ‘financing other, more interesting activities’, a new study by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA) has found.
As the study noted, this cohort has increased 14 percentage points since 2010, indicating that more Finns now view work primarily as a way to finance life outside of work.
Some 56% of respondents described work simply as a way to earn a living, while only 14% said they would continue working even if they no longer needed the income.
Important role
At the same time, employment continues to hold an important place in the minds of Finns – some 43% said that work is the most important aspect of a person’s life, while 46% disagreed. According to EVA, this measure has returned to levels previously recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Notable differences were also evident between age groups, with just over a third (34%) of people aged 26 to 35 considering work to be the most important part of life, compared with 72% of those aged over 65.
However, younger adults aged 18 to 25 did not fit the stereotype of being ‘less committed’ to work, with 43% saying work was the most important part of their lives, matching the national average.
Elsewhere, more than one-third of employed respondents said they would like to spend less time in paid employment, while only 10% wanted to work more. In addition, 43% said they would be willing to accept lower pay in exchange for shorter working hours and more free time.
‘Intrinsic value’
“The work ethic of Finns has not collapsed, but the intrinsic value of work has weakened,” commented Ilkka Haavisto, EVA’s research manager and author of the analysis. “Work is increasingly done because it enables other aspects of life. This is an important observation in a country where the funding of the welfare state relies on high employment and taxable work.”
The research is based on responses from 2,038 people collected between 7 and 20 October 2025. Read more here.
