Nuorisobarometri_2012_Verkkojulkaisu

preceding 2 years. The young people’s ideas and
motives were analysed with the help of Anne
Birgitta Yeung’s (now Pessi) (2004) diamond
model. Young people’s ideas about voluntary
work would appear to be almost solely linked
to the arena of aid and altruism. Voluntary work
is also thought of as a way of helping especially
poor people and the aged, and it is linked to
NGOs. Self-fulfilment or learning new things
were not part of the idea of voluntary work. For
those who had participated in voluntary work
the most important motive was a desire to help
others. Other typical motives for voluntary work
among young people were also emphasized,
such as working together with friends and other
people, meeting new people and experiencing
new things. Among young people who haven’t
participated in voluntary work (N=1104, 63 %),
the most common explanation is a lack of time.
In general it can be claimed that there have been
no great changes with regards to young people’s
ideas about, motives for participating in, or
failure to get involved in voluntary work. It
may be seen as a positive development, however,
that a larger proportion of young people have
participated in voluntary work. This is a good
base on which to build a dynamic future for
voluntary work.
VOlUNtARY ActiVitY witHOUt
cOMpARiSON?
Pia Lundbom & Teppo Eskelinen
The article looks at the open-reply data with
the question “what word does voluntary activity
bring to mind?” The answers have been divided
according to perspective: some of the answers
emphasize the motives for voluntary activity,
others the participants, some the work itself,
and some looked upon the matter critically.
We claim that the data confirms observations
made by earlier studies about young people’s
strong desire to help and the duty that they feel
accompanies that. Helping the weakest appears
to be a central motive to volunteer. On the other
hand this is mixed with social aims: many people
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regard the activity as enjoyable co operation.
Large NGOs were often mentioned as central
actors in voluntary work, even though in reality
these organisations may rely mostly on professionals.
The data did not include many critical
voices, but these regard voluntary work
as a way of furthering one’s own career or as
exploitation. Although the criticism was harsh,
it may express some realistic threats that are
linked to voluntary work.
RelAtiONS betweeN geNeRAtiONS
iNFlUeNce YOUNg peOple’S
HeAltH beHAViOUR
Antti Häkkinen, Anni Ojajärvi, Anne Puuronen
& Mikko Salasuo
The family has an important role to play in the
formation of behavioural models that affect
children’s health. Conditions in the childhood
home create a basis for health-related behaviour.
The family is a social institution whose members
live together and it is a breeding ground
for health-related experiences, perceptions and
behaviour. The article examines how the family
institution influences health behaviour intergenerationally.
Attention is centred on the way
the family members act and do things together,
meal-times, moving around and sticking to a
conventional daily rhythm. The influence of
the family institution can be seen in the answers
in the Youth Barometer survey, e.g. in the way
that opinions about food are similar from one
generation to the next. Young people are of the
opinion that they eat in much the same way as
their parents. The focus is on whether young
people experience the family meal in the family
home as being generally characterized by a lack
of time. Being together, eating together and
promoting a healthy diet were linked to the
young people’s own estimation of their parents’
financial status. The influence of the family
can also be seen in the way that a common
parent-child exercise hobby has a big influence
on children’s and young people’s exercise activities.
The results also demonstrate a correlation