Young people – similarities and differences in living conditions

Living in poor economic circumstances negatively affects young people’s lives, increasing their risk of poor physical and mental health, crowded living conditions, poor academic results and unemployment (Forte, 2018; UNICEF, 2016). The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF) shows that there are major differences in young people’s economic living conditions. Young foreign-born people or people with disabilities experience significantly worse economic living conditions than other young people. This concerns everything from managing day-to-day expenses for food, rent and bills to establishing themselves in the labour market.

The report shows that one in four young people aged 20-24 was living in poor economic conditions in 2019. The proportion is even higher for those who are foreign-born, at 40 per cent compared to 22 per cent among those born in Sweden. It is also much more common for foreign-born young people to receive financial assistance. A worrying development in Sweden is the increasing number of young people who have debts with the Enforcement Authority and have applied for debt restructuring, as well as the number of young people who are threatened with eviction and have experienced eviction (Thornström & Hellsing, 2022).

Young people are a heterogeneous group and there are significant differences within the group. Young people in minority groups, such as young foreign-born people, young people with disabilities and young LGBTI people, face more difficult living conditions than young people who do not belong to a minority group. The report Ung idag 2022: Ungas försörjning och ekonomiska levnadsvillkor (Youth Today, 2022: Young people’s livelihoods and economic living conditions) presents results from the national youth survey in Sweden, which is sent out to young people aged 16-25 every three years. The latest survey was conducted in spring 2021, when questionnaires were sent out to an unbound random sample of 12,000 young people. The results are generalisable to young people (Thornström & Hellsing, 2022) and some of the results are outlined below:

Young people are more likely to be in temporary employment than other age groups. In 2020, more than half of employed Swedes aged 15-24 had a temporary contract. The proportion is higher among girls than boys. It is also common for young people, especially girls, to work part time. Here the intersection between age and gender becomes clear and highlights the impact of the gender-segregated labour market and the conditions that new entrants to the labour market often face. For young people who work to support themselves, temporary or part-time employment can mean a precarious economic situation. A study of young people’s attitudes and values shows that young people themselves prioritise predictability and security in their employment (MUCF, 2019). Almost all young people think it is important that a job provides a good working environment and working conditions. This is one of the most important aspects for young people to be interested in a job.

Nordic research has shown that precarious employment also affects young people’s health. Young people are particularly vulnerable to health problems when they are unemployed or working under precarious conditions. Active labour market and training programmes, including social security measures, improved working conditions and targeted health programmes, are important for addressing this vulnerability (Randell, 2023; Vancea & Utzet, 2017).

Unemployment is linked to an increased risk of mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, among young adults. Job insecurity is also linked to mental health outcomes, and young workers with precarious employment conditions have an increased risk of mental health problems and poorer mental health compared to those with more stable employment. Studies show that unfavourable work environment, high levels of work-related stress, high workloads and a lack of support from an employer can negatively affect mental health (Randell, 2023).

Networks and personal contacts play a major role in helping young people access employment. Four in ten people aged 16-25 in Sweden say they got their current job through people they know. In this age group, 74.4 per cent have experience of summer jobs, which is many young people’s first step on the labour market, but the proportion is lower among those who are foreign-born. A significantly higher proportion of foreign-born young people say that they have previously applied for a summer job but never been accepted for one. There is also a lower proportion of young people with disabilities who have had a summer job, and a large proportion of these young people have never applied for a summer job. To equalise such inequality, certain groups of young people may need support to gain access to work and the important experiences and contacts that summer jobs, for example, provide. MUCF therefore considers it to be beneficial if long-term initiatives on summer jobs are specifically targeted at young people who neither work nor study and young people in groups that face socio-economic challenges (Thornström & Hellsing, 2022).

It is important to guarantee young people’s access to meaningful and fulfilling leisure activities. For example, a Danish study shows that leisure activities during adolescence are important for developing a stable connection to the labour market in adulthood (Just-Noerregaard et al., 2021). Finance is one of the barriers that a large proportion of young people experience in participating in leisure activities. One in three young people aged 16-25 in Sweden states that they have given up leisure activities because they are too expensive (Thornström & Hellsing, 2022). The proportion is higher among young people in socio-economically disadvantaged areas, young people who are foreign-born and young people with disabilities. Young people with disabilities are an example of opportunities for meaningful leisure being dependent on the ability to pay for assistive devices needed to engage in leisure activities. Four in ten young people with disabilities state that they refrained from leisure activities in 2021. However, while this proportion has decreased among young people without disabilities, it has not changed for this group of young people (Thornström & Hellsing, 2022).

Norway and Iceland have worked in different ways to reduce the inequalities associated with young people’s access to leisure activities. In Iceland, there are subsidised leisure cards to give more children and young people the opportunity to participate in leisure activities and associations. They can be used for any cultural, sports or other leisure activities approved by the municipality (Reykjavik Municipality, 2023). In Reykjavik, there is also targeted support for socially or economically disadvantaged families to subsidise their children’s leisure activities. In Sweden, the idea of a similar leisure card is being examined.

In Norway, one of the government’s main priorities in the 2020 state budget was for more children to participate in leisure activities, and funds were allocated to trialling leisure cards that would cover fees for organised leisure activities for children aged 6-18 years (Prop. 1 S, 2020). A survey of the use of leisure cards in Norwegian municipalities showed generally favourable experiences but also revealed challenges and important conditions for such initiatives to be successful (Arnesen et al., 2021). The Norwegian government has decided not to continue the initiative for a national leisure card. Work on making leisure activities more accessible to all children will continue, but other types of measures will be prioritised, such as municipalities being able to apply for grants to cover participation fees for leisure activities for children and young people.