Vulnerability of adults in working life

Working life and welfare face challenges related to technological change, demographic development and regional differences. These include migration and changes in the population structure, with an ageing population and a growing need for health care and care for older people. This affects funding, with fewer people needing to support an aging population, and raises questions about who should do what jobs and under what conditions. Key aspects include the organisation of the labour market, labour supply and demand, working conditions and issues related to skills supply (Young Håkansson et al., 2022).

Many sectors that are crucial for supporting society, such as health care, education, care and services, are heavily dominated by women and employ a high proportion of people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Many occupations in these sectors are characterised by low wages and insecure employment conditions. The Nordic labour market is clearly gender segregated. Women and men largely work in different sectors and occupations, and there are clear differences in employment conditions and income. Women are paid less, are more likely to work part time and to have temporary jobs. They are also more dependent on their wages, as they have less capital. The gender-segregated labour market is of course about gender, but it also about class, an issue which is closely linked to ethnicity in large parts of the Nordic region (Young Håkansson et al., 2022).

Unjustified pay differences remain a serious gender equality problem throughout the Nordic region (Måwe, 2019). For example, a study by the Danish company Vive shows that women’s hourly pay is 14.4 per cent lower than men’s. According to Vive, 85 per cent of this wage gap can be explained by experience, absence and the gender-segregated labour market, while the remaining 15 per cent cannot be explained. The study also shows that if Danish women were not, on average, more educated than Danish men, the pay gap would be even greater (Albæk et al., 2019).

Unjustified pay differences exist not only based on gender, but also on ethnicity. For example, research shows that people who are foreign-born receive lower wages, including those who arrived in the Nordic countries as children and have the same level of education as those born in Sweden (Katz & Österberg, 2013). It also differs greatly depending on which part of the world people come from. A report shows that there is a large pay gap between Afro-Swedes and the rest of the population. The pay gap is greatest in the private sector: people born in sub-Saharan Africa receive 25 per cent less pay than the rest of the population, and Afro-Swedes born in Sweden with at least one parent born in sub-Saharan Africa receive 36 per cent lower pay than the rest of the population. Even when controlling for differences in educational level, employment sector and age, there is a significant wage gap between Afro-Swedes and the rest of the population (Wolgast et al., 2021).

Among foreign-born women, a relatively high proportion are far from the labour market overall, something that has been noted throughout the Nordic region (see, for example, Sigurjónsdóttir et al., 2018; Bufdir, 2023b; THL, 2023). For example, there are just over one million foreign-born women living in Sweden, and of these, 133,300 were unemployed and 187,700 registered as outside the labour force in 2021 (Jämställdhetsmyndigheten, 2022). There is currently insufficient research on why some groups of foreign-born women are further from the labour market, but a number of general explanations can be identified (Jämställdhetsmyndigheten, 2022). These include:

Research also shows that ethnic gaps exist not only at the level of the labour market and entry into employment, but also for employment conditions and wages, as previously mentioned. Foreign-born people are over-represented in jobs characterised by insecure working conditions, short-term employment, part-time work and unregulated working conditions. Gender differences are also evident in terms of employment conditions, with women with non-European roots being overrepresented among those in precarious employment (De los Reyes, 2008; Bufdir, 2023b). The presence of precarious employment conditions results in highly uneven conditions for different groups of employees.

New ways of organising work, with ever-increasing demands for a more flexible workforce, are interconnected with changing requirements of the educational system. The labour market is highly segregated, with men and women largely occupying different sectors and positions. This is largely reflected in the distribution of students in different specialisations within the education system. Differentiation within education systems results in the population being divided, or dividing itself, into several almost exclusively parallel tracks based on gender (see, for example, Jansson & Sand, 2020; Simonsson, 2022; Mellén, 2021). In this way, education systems can be said to replicate inequalities and structures in society, not least in the labour market, based on, among other things, gender and class.

As education and training becomes increasingly focused on individual learning for the purpose of employability, there is a risk that structural differences, for example between men and women or based on social or migrant backgrounds, are concealed and continue to perpetuate negative consequences for certain social groups. This can reinforce inequality in working life and education systems.

Migrant workers are an important source of labour for several sectors in the Nordic countries. At the same time, working conditions for many have become more precarious, temporary and flexible, affecting the low-skilled and low-paid sectors in which many migrants work (Doellgast et al., 2018). Although the Nordic countries are well known for their welfare systems, gender equality and good working conditions, research shows that migrant workers are exploited in the Nordic countries in labour-intensive sectors such as construction, hotels and restaurants, services, logistics and transport, horticulture and agriculture (Schoultz et al., 2023). Widespread illegal labour practices in the Nordic region affect workers, businesses and, by extension, society as a whole. In particular, it means that many migrant workers living and working in the Nordic region are exposed to serious economic vulnerability and often find themselves completely outside welfare and other security systems. Foreign-born women who come to the Nordic Region as migrant workers are often in a particularly vulnerable situation (Sigurjónsdóttir et al., 2018).

Labour exploitation can be described as a continuum ranging from serious, criminalised practices, such as trafficking, to other forms of exploitation and labour law violations (see, for example, Ollus & Jokinen, 2013). It often involves fraud or coercion with regard to working conditions, accommodation, underpayment, long working hours, little or no pay and threats of violence or other punishment. This exploitation is often possible due to the vulnerable position in which many migrant workers find themselves. Workers may be unaware of their rights or where to seek help. They may be indebted to their employer for the cost of their travel or otherwise at the mercy of employers for their residence or work permits (Schoultz et al., 2023).

The Nordic countries have various national strategies to combat the exploitation of migrant workers, including action plans and laws against human trafficking and exploitation, and have established multi-agency co-operation to combat the exploitation of migrant workers. Anti-trafficking laws, which include labour trafficking, have been in place in the Nordic countries since the early 2000s. However, research shows that in the Nordic countries, with the exception of Finland, there have been very few convictions for trafficking of forced labour and other forms of labour exploitation (Schoultz et al., 2023).

A study comparing and analysing human trafficking convictions for labour exploitation in the Nordic countries shows that definitions of who can be considered a victim of labour exploitation differ between the countries and that narrow notions of the ‘ideal victim’ can render victims invisible (Schoultz et al., 2023). The cases examined show that Finland, which has the largest number of criminal cases on labour exploitation and the largest number of convictions for trafficking of forced labour, has developed a more comprehensive legal understanding of labour exploitation. Norwegian case law has developed in a similar way in recent years. In Sweden, where there had not been a single prosecution for trafficking of forced labour since 2012 until a case leading to an acquittal in 2022, the legal constructions of a non-victim (not sufficiently vulnerable or untrustworthy) are more prevalent than those focused on the vulnerable, deceived and exploited victim. Finally, Denmark, where there has not been a single conviction for trafficking of forced labour, has the narrowest understanding of what constitutes a victim of labour exploitation. However, Denmark is moving in the same direction as Sweden, and a law on human exploitation came into force in June 2022 (Schoultz et al., 2023). Iceland was not included in the material for this study.

Finland’s national action plan against human trafficking (Finland fights human trafficking – Action Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings) promotes detection of trafficking in human beings and enforcement of criminal liability and sets a clear aim of improving the position of victims of trafficking. The action plan is based on five strategic objectives and contains 55 concrete measures. The aim was to implement the action plan between 2021 and 2023. The action plan was developed through a series of multidisciplinary workshops with about 130 participants, including trafficking survivors and experienced professionals, civil society organisations and professional networks, to gather additional information to provide a comprehensive picture of the challenges for and perspectives on its development. The action plan emphasises the importance of integrated and enhanced cooperation with civil society and highlights the need to combine anti-trafficking measures with analysis, assessment and research activities. In 2020, the Finnish government allocated EUR 1.1 million to support and protect victims of human trafficking, which is far more than in any other Nordic country.

Finland also has an independent national rapporteur responsible for these issues. Appointed in 2009, the position exists under the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman and is responsible for reviewing and monitoring Finnish work on human trafficking to ensure that Finland complies with its international obligations and implements national legislation from a rights-based perspective. The rapporteur can, among other things, intervene and submit comments to change the legislation. Due to their independence, the rapporteur has access to the highest levels of politics and is not bound to any authority.