Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Everyday Life of Young Long-Term Unemployed in Sweden: Coping with Limited Participation and Feelings of Inferiority

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Experiencing Long-Term Unemployment in Europe

Abstract

This chapter empirically investigates the mechanisms conditioning the everyday life of the young long-term unemployed youth that can be understood in terms of social exclusion. The main questions answered by using data from 18 qualitative interviews with long-term unemployed young adults in the city of Karlstad and its surroundings are the following: How does the strong work ethic rooted in the Swedish society influence their everyday lives? Are they able to manage their everyday lives financially? How does social support from the significant others condition their everyday lives? The main conclusion is that long-term unemployment of young adults does not lead to a total exclusion from society, yet limitations of some kind seem to be the rule, causing a substantial risk of social exclusion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Amichai-Hamburger, Y., and E. Ben-Artzi. 2003. Loneliness and Internet use. Computors in Human Behavior 19: 71–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amichai-Hamburger, Y., and A. Furnham. 2007. The Positive Net. Computers in Human Behavior 23: 1033–1045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Augner, M. 2009. Skapa mer inre motivation. Liber: Malmö.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, U. 1986. Risksamhället. PÃ¥ väg mot en annan modernitet. Daidalos: Göteborg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergqvist, T. 2004. Självständighetens livsform(er) och smÃ¥företagande—tillämpning och utveckling av realistisk livsformsanalys. Karlstad: Karlstad University Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergqvist, T., and B. Eriksson. 2015. Passion and Exploitation Among Young Adults with Different Labor Market Status in Europe. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies 5: 17–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Björnberg, U., and M. Latta. 2007. The Roles of the Family and Welfare State: The Relationship between Public and Private Financial Support in Sweden. Current Sociology 55: 415–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, V. 1997. Psychology of Computer Use: XLVII. Parameters of Internet Use, Abuse and Addiction: the First 90 Days of the Internet Usage Survey. Psychological Reports 80: 879–882.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corbin, Juliet M., and Anselm L. Strauss. 2008. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. California: Sage Publications Inc.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cullberg, M. 2007. Självkänsla pÃ¥ djupet—en terapi för att reparera negativa självbilder. Stockholm: Natur & Kultur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Findahl, O. 2014. Svenskarna och Internet 2014. Stockholm: SE∣internetstatistik, Stiftelsen för Internetinfrastruktur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallie, D., S. Jacobs, and S. Paugam. 2000. Poverty and Financial Hardship among the Unemployed. In Welfare Regimes and the Experience of Unemployment in Europe, eds. D. Gallie, and S. Paugam. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallie, D. 2005. Unemployment, Marginalization Risks and Welfare Policy. In Resisting Marginalization. Unemployment Experience and Social Policy in the European Union, ed. D. Gallie. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirdman, Y. 2001. Genus—om det stabilas föränderliga former. Malmö: Liber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jahoda, M., Lazarsfeld P.F., and H. Zeisel. [1933] 1971. Marienthal: The Sociography of an Unemployed Community. London:Tavistock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jahoda, M. 1982. Employment and Unemployment. A Social-Psychological Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jakobsen, L. 1999. Livsform, kön och risk. En utveckling och tillämpning av Realistisk livsformsanalys. Lund: Arkiv.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, H., and I. Hornemann Möller. 2009. Aktivering—arbetsmarknadspolitik och socialt arbete i förändring. Malmö: Liber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jónasdóttir, A.G. 1991. Love Power and Political Interests. Örebro: Högskolan Örebro.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2003. Kärlekskraft, makt och politiska intressen. En teori om patriarkatet i nutida västerländska samhällen. Göteborg: Daidalos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R., J. Turner, and J. House. 1988. The Effects of Unemployment on Health in a Community Survey: Main, Modifying, and Mediating Effects. Journal of Social Issues 44: 69–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, P., and M. Skuterud. 2004. Internet Job Search and Unemployment Durations. AmericanEconomic Review 94: 218–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kieselbach, T., and U. Traiser. 2004. Long-Term Unemployment and the Risk of Social Exclusion among Young People: Recommendations for Activation Policies. In Are Activation Policies Converging in Europe? The European Employment Strategy for Young People, ed. A. Serrano, 415–450. ETUI: Brussels.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraut, P., M. Patterson, V. Lundmark, S. Kiesler, T. Mukopadhyay, and W. Scherlis. 1998. Internet Paradox: A Social Technology that Reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being? American Psychologist 53: 65–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kronauer, M. 1998. Social Exclusion and Underclass. New Concepts for the Analysis of Poverty. In Empirical poverty research in a comparative perspective, ed. H.-J. Andre, 51–75. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, J., and H. Lee. 2010. The Computer-Mediated Communication Network: Exploring the Linkage Between the Online Community and Social Capital. New Media & Society 12: 711–727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenna, K.Y.A., and J.A. Bargh. 1998. Coming out in the Age of the Internet: Identity ‘Demarginalization’ Through Virtual Group Participation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 75: 681–694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mäkitalo, Ã…. 2006. Att hantera arbetslöshet -om social kategorisering och Identitets formering i det senmoderna. Stockholm: Arbetslivsinstitutet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordenmark, M. 1999. Employment Commitment and Psychological Well-Being among Unemployed Men and Women. Acta Sociologica 42: 135–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nordenmark, M., and M. Strand. 1999. Towards a Sociological Understanding of Mental Well-Being among the Unemployed—The Role of Economic and Psychosocial Factors. Sociology 33: 577–597.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rantakeisu, U., B. Starrin, and C. Hagquist. 1999. Financial Hardship and Shame: A Tentative Model to Understanding the Social and Health Effects of Unemployment. British Journal of Social Work. 29: 877–901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sainsbury, D. 1999. Gender and Social-Democratic Welfare States. In Gender and Welfare State Regimes, ed. D. Sainsbury. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Starrin, B., L.R. Jönsson, and U. Rantakeisu. 2001. Sense of Coherence During Unemployment. International Journal of Social Welfare 10: 107–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suphan, A., M. Feuls, and C. Fieseler. 2012. Social Media’s Potential in Improving the Mental Well-Being of the Unemployed. In WIS 2012, CCIS 313, eds. K. Eriksson-Backa, A. Luoma, and E. Krook, 10–28. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoits, P.A. 1995. Stress, Coping, and Social Support Processes: Where Are We? What Next? Journal of Health and Social Behavior 35: 53–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turkle, S. 1996. Virtuality and Its Discontents: Searching for Community in Cyberspace. The AmericanProspect 24: 50–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, S. 2006. The Internet and the Transformation of the Reality of Everyday Life: Toward a New Analytic Stance in Sociology. Sociological Inquiry 76: 458–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Working Life Science, Karlstad Business School, SE-651 88, Karlstad, Sweden

    Tuula Bergqvist

Authors
  1. Tuula Bergqvist
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany

    Christian Lahusen

  2. University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Marco Giugni

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Table 5.1 List of interviews
Full size table

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Bergqvist, T. (2016). The Everyday Life of Young Long-Term Unemployed in Sweden: Coping with Limited Participation and Feelings of Inferiority. In: Lahusen, C., Giugni, M. (eds) Experiencing Long-Term Unemployment in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50487-6_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50487-6_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-50486-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-50487-6

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation