Omnibus survey: why are some employees not members of an unemployment fund?

Topics

• Income security
• Membership
• YTK

In early 2025, YTK conducted an Omnibus survey to find out what kind of employees are not members of an unemployment fund, why they are not members, and what would motivate them to join. 

Who is not part of the unemployment fund? 

Compared to wage earners, those who do not belong to an unemployment fund are predominantly men, people under 35, people living alone, people with low incomes, and people with lower levels of education. 

Fund membership is therefore not evenly distributed; young people and people with low incomes are more likely than others to be excluded. 

Why not join an unemployment fund? 

The reasons given in the open-ended responses varied greatly: some were unfamiliar with unemployment funds, some had not gotten around to joining one, and some felt that they did not meet the membership requirements. 

When respondents were given a list of options to choose from, the biggest obstacles were: 

· the belief that membership does not offer sufficient benefits 

· the perception that membership fees are too expensive 

Women and people under the age of 35 also emphasized their lack of knowledge about unemployment funds. On average, they are less familiar with these funds than others, and this lack of knowledge may be an obstacle to joining. 

Better knowledge of funds would help young people 

In their spontaneous responses, the incentives were individual: better awareness, their own work situation, and more affordable payments. 

Of the options provided, the clearest reasons for joining were: 

· more affordable membership fees 

· better information about the benefits of union membership 

Better knowledge about unions was highlighted as an incentive to join, particularly among women and those under 35. 

There is a lot of ignorance and misconceptions surrounding unemployment funds. By raising awareness of the benefits of fund membership and how to choose the right fund for you, more and more employees could join and secure their income in case of unemployment or layoffs. 

How the study was conducted 

Data collection was carried out on Bilendi Oy’s internet panel in January–February 2025. The initial sample was n=2000 (Finnish people aged 18+ according to gender, age, and place of residence). There were 302 non-unionized employees in the target group. Salmi Systems Oy was responsible for the design, reporting, and analysis of the study.