The Labour Market

Abstract

The labour market is the major arena where the individual living conditions are determined. The performance of labour market is decisive for our general quality of life within as well as outside the work place. New personal resources are created on the labour market; first of all income, but also less tangible resources such as competence, identity, status and personal connections. Here are the individual resources acquired which then determine consumption and material living conditions in a wider sense. Earnings buys material goods as well as power and influence. Professional status and personal contacts established in the labour market open opportunities in most spheres of private life, such as social networks, family formation, culture and politics. Further, the lifelong working environment exposure impacts on health and life expectancy, with further consequences on the general quality of life.