G5 Doctoral dissertation (article)
Työttömyys, nuoret ja aktivointi : tutkimus pitkäaikaistyöttömien nuorten elämänhallinnallisista valinnoista työmarkkinoilla (2023)
Unemployment, the youth and activation : coping strategies of long-term unemployed youth in the labour market

Ylistö, S. (2023). Työttömyys, nuoret ja aktivointi : tutkimus pitkäaikaistyöttömien nuorten elämänhallinnallisista valinnoista työmarkkinoilla [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Jyväskylä. JYU dissertations, 717. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9822-6

The research was funded by Strategic Research Council at the Research Council of Finland.

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Ylistö, Sami

eISBN: 978-951-39-9822-6

Journal or series: JYU dissertations

eISSN: 2489-9003

Publication year: 2023

Number in series: 717

Number of pages in the book: 1 verkkoaineisto (203 sivua, 52 useina numerointijaksoina, 4 numeroimatonta sivua)

Publisher: University of Jyväskylä

Publication country: Finland

Publication language: Finnish

Persistent website address: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9822-6

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Abstract

The aim of this social work dissertation is to better understand the coping strategies of long-term unemployed young people in the labour market. The research questions of the dissertation are threefold: (1) how to describe theoretically the coping strategies of long-term unemployed youth, (2) how the life course of long-term unemployed youth determines their coping strategies in the labour market, and (3) what the influence of youth coping strategies is for active labour market and social policies. The dissertation data are based on life-course interviews with 28 long-term unemployed young people from the city of Jyväskylä, Finland, conducted from 2012 to 2013. The analysis of the data follows the principles of Derek Layder’s adaptive theory. The theoretical framework for the interpretation of the data is based on coping theories and Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory. This doctoral thesis synthesises structuration theory and coping theories to create an extended stratification model of the agent which is suitable for the empirical interpretation of the coping strategy needs of long-term unemployed young people. The analysis suggests that the coping strategies of long-term unemployed young people in the labour market are explained by a lack of realistic opportunities and by accumulating adversities in their life course. The accumulated adversities in the lives of the young people interviewed had generally started in childhood and results in permanent behavioural changes over time. Young people also appear to lack realistic employment prospects, as they face significant difficulties in meeting employers’ recruitment requirements. As a result, the patterns of behaviour under the unemployment obligations are emotionally burdensome for the long-term unemployed young people, which constitutes a significant incentive to adopt deviant patterns of behaviour. Therefore, the logic of action for long-term unemployed young people differs significantly from the initial assumptions of active labour market and social policies. The study also shows that well-designed activation measures, if properly timed and targeted, can help young people to rehabilitate and enter the labour market. The results of the study suggest that the activation measures with a threat of sanctions should not be targeted at the most disadvantaged young people, as for them such measures can lead to even greater problems.

Keywords: young people; unemployment; long-term unemployment; access to employment; long-term unemployed people; activation; life management; doctoral dissertations

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Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2023