Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2023-513/ This report is the second report in a research project examining how to increase labour market participation among vulnerable groups in the Nordic countries. In this report we develop a framework over employment barriers that vulnerable groups face in the nordic countries, based on an extensive targeted literature review. The purpose of the framework is twofold. First, we hope it can be a tool for practitioners to identify and address the broad range of barriers to employment that vulnerable groups potentially face. Second, the framework will be useful in future phases of this project, when we will operationalise and measure the prevalence of the barriers among vulnerable groups in the Nordic countries and analyse relevant and promising policies to help individuals with certain set of barriers.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2023-538/ This report is the third in a research project examining how to increase labour market participation among vulnerable groups in the Nordic countries. The purpose of this report is partly to deepen our understanding of the prevalence of employment barriers among vulnerable groups and partly to group these individuals according to the employment barriers they face. In the report we show that: 1. Individuals with no or weak labour market attachment typically face a complex set of employment barriers. 2. It is possible to group the vulnerable individuals in the Nordic countries into 8 distinct data-driven target groups that share similar employment barriers. 3. Traditional demographic target groups (i.e., young people, seniors, etc.) share common barriers, which challenge their distinct categorisation. These empirical findings demonstrate that future employment policies may derive greater benefits by focusing on the specific employment barriers faced by individuals rather than relying on broad demographic categories as a shorthand for the unique challenges experienced by individuals.

This report examines changes over time among young adults who have experienced particular difficulties in achieving and retaining paid work in the ordinary labour market: youth with family background from non-Nordic countries and youth with disabilities in the Nordic countries. The report identifies processes and mechanisms enabling or preventing the labour market prospects of the two youth groups. The report focuses on policy measures aiming at tackling demand-side barriers to employment for the two youth groups. While available data have not made it possible to determine robust evidence of an effect (positive or negative) of the social regulation policies for the employment of vulnerable youth groups in statistical terms, the report identifies processes and mechanisms through which social regulation policies make a difference.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2023-501/ This research report is part of a project examining how to increase labour force participation among vulnerable groups (young people, seniors, immigrants, and disabled people) in the Nordic countries. The purpose of this report is to provide a description of the vulnerable groups in the Nordic labour markets and analyse differences in labour force participation among these groups. We find that no country outshines all the others regarding labour force participation for these vulnerable groups. This highlights the fact that cross-country learning and collaboration can be fruitful in the future. In the forthcoming phases of this project, we will identify relevant barriers that lead to labour market exclusion and develop a method to group people, according to these barriers. The aim is to formulate policy recommendations to improve the labour market attachment among vulnerable groups.

Including youth in the labour market is a major challenge facing many European countries. This book examines the transitions from education to employment with a focus on Nordic youth in the broader European context. The book combines insights from the social sciences and law by linking the challenges facing young people in general and the more specific barriers facing the more vulnerable groups of young people. Youth, Diversity and Employment provides original insights on the interdependencies or interaction between redistributive and regulatory social policies.

The Nordic future of workHow will work and working life in the Nordic countries change in the future? This is the question to be addressed in the project The Future of Work: Opportunities and Challenges for the Nordic Models. This initial report describes the main drivers and trends expected to shape the future of work. It also reviews the main distinctions of the Nordic model and recent developments in Nordic working lives, pointing towards the kind of challenges the future of work may pose to the Nordic models. Too often, debates about the future narrowly focus on changes in technology. This report draws attention to the broader drivers and political-institutional frameworks influencing working life developments, aiming to spur debate about how the interaction of changes in demography, climate, globalization and digital technologies may influence Nordic working lives in the coming decades.