Two-thirds of Finns are opposed to cuts to current or future pensions as a way of improving pension funding, according to the Finnish Centre for Pensions’ (ETK) latest Pension Barometer survey.

The survey showed that Finns' willingness to accept cuts to current and future pensions varied by age, as, on average, people under 45 were more willing to accept cuts than those aged 45 and over.

Of the measures proposed to improve pension funding, increasing work-based immigration to boost employment received the strongest support from respondents, with 40 per cent considering it at least a good or fairly good option.

Meanwhile, raising the retirement age was considered a good or fairly good option by 27 per cent of respondents, but just over half (53 per cent) considered it a poor or fairly poor way to improve pension funding.

The survey also found that a quarter of respondents viewed raising the employment pension contributions paid by employees and employers favourably, but 40 per cent did not support the increase.

Explaining the logic behind the results, ETK economist, Sanna Tenhunen, said: “The most appealing options for supporting pension funding are those that do not directly affect one’s own wallet. Most respondents have a negative view of, for example, pension cuts and raising the retirement age.”

ETK’s survey also showed that half (50 per cent) of Finns trust the pension system, which is the same level as last year's survey.

Just under half (49 per cent) of respondents think that pension assets are managed reliably, over a quarter (27 per cent) believe that pensions will provide a reasonable income in future, and just over a third (38 per cent) believe that pensions will continue to be paid in future.

Compared with previous surveys, fewer people believe that pensions will guarantee a reasonable standard of living in the future or that pensions will continue to be paid in the future.

“General uncertainty about the future and the development of the economy and employment likely reflects perceptions of the reliability of the pension system. However, older respondents expressed more confidence in the pension system in the survey,” ETK head of research, Susan Kuivalainen, said.

In addition, the survey revealed that over half of respondents believe the 2025 pension reform is very or fairly good, while fewer than one in 10 consider it very or fairly poor. These figures remain unchanged from the 2025 survey. 

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