Inclusion — Nordic Labour Journal

A Monday in the service of the Nordics

(Jan 20, 2020) Paula Lehtomäki heads the secretariat for the Nordic governments’ official body of cooperation. Yet she has no lifeguards, she cycles to work and gets on the train to open a conference.

A gender change in the cleaning profession

(Nov 27, 2019) Cleaning is about to become a male-dominated occupation. It used to be nearly exclusively women who worked the mop. Now men, especially those with an immigrant background, are taking over according to a report from the Oslo Institute for Social Research.

A more precise view on inclusion

(May 26, 2019) It is hard to generalise about labour market inclusion. Everyone who fails to join or who drops out have their own story. But we are getting more detailed comparisons between the different Nordic countries.

“It is our environments which make us handicapped”

(May 26, 2019) Kristine Ronæss Årdal has cerebral palsy, and certain environments make integration difficult. In her experience, positive attitudes combined with physical facilitation is often easier to achieve than many think.

Inclusion on a labour market with ever increasing demands

(May 26, 2019) Inclusion is something which all the Nordic countries treasure. Yet while they agree on the goal, they often use different measures and have different ideas for how the labour market should work. How, for instance, does an education system using a lot of workplace training impact on those who do not finish their education? Does strong employment protection help youths?

Torstein Lerhol is responsible for 700 staff. Now he wants to become mayor.

(May 26, 2019) Torstein Lerhol can only move one finger, but feels he can contribute to society just like anybody else thanks to the support he gets from his home municipality of Vang in Oppland, Norway. He wants to give something back. That is why he will run for mayor this autumn.

Unique study compares how Denmark, Norway and Sweden integrate refugees

(Apr 29, 2019) Who is best out of Denmark, Norway and Sweden at integrating refugees into their labour market? The answer depends at what stage after the refugees’ arrival you measure the success. Refugees to Denmark find jobs faster, but in the longer run more refugees get jobs in Sweden than in Denmark. Norway is the clear winner when it comes to integrating female refugees.

Statistics Sweden: new statistics on how different immigrant groups manage in the Nordics

(Dec 17, 2018) Statistics Sweden (SCB) and its Nordic opposites have begun producing comparable statistics on how immigrants manage in the labour market, divided into country of origin.

Britt Östlund: Technology is made by people – so we can influence it

(May 28, 2018) 80 year olds are considerably more different from each other than 40 year olds, yet older people are often described as an homogenous group with no real knowledge of how to use technology. This limits innovation and influences how welfare technology for older people is created, says Britt Östlund, a professor at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology specialising on older people and welfare technology.

OECD: More flexibility needed to get female refugees into work

(Apr 19, 2018) There is a need for more flexible measures to integrate newly arrived refugee women in the Nordic region, according to the OECD. Research shows that after years of fleeing, birth rates increase dramatically. When women feel safe, they have children – but that also makes it difficult for them to benefit from labour market introduction programmes.

Nordic focus on getting more newly arrived women into work

(Apr 19, 2018) To succeed in getting more newly arrived women into work, the Nordic countries need more employment measures, an increased focus on childcare and documented results from measures, according to a new study.

Project Mirjam tackles prejudices about and in the Swedish labour market

(Apr 19, 2018) Project Mirjam targets women with low levels of education who have been granted asylum or residency in Sweden. It is considerably harder for them to find work compared to men in a similar situation, but guidance focused on work and gender equality produces results.

Swedish cooperation could half time it takes youths and newly arrived to find work

(Feb 08, 2018) It takes foreign born jobseekers less time to enter the Swedish labour market than it used to. But some, especially women and people with lower education, still face major challenges. Cooperation on a local level between the Employment Service and municipalities could help.

How private investors could make money from integrating immigrants in Finland

(Feb 08, 2018) Finland is the first Nordic country to adopt the model where private investments are being used for social programmes. So-called Social Impact Bonds, or SIBs, also help private investors fund employment programmes for immigrants. If the private players manage to do better than the public sector, they will be rewarded.

Norway’s blue-green government with a labour market focus

(Feb 08, 2018) The Liberal Party is the new party in the Norwegian government coalition. Prime Minister Erna Solberg has also reshuffled some of her government ministers. Five out of six main points in the new government’s political platform are about the labour market.

Norwegian employers: applicants with in-work training end up further down the pile

(Feb 08, 2018) Being unemployed as a young person has a stigmatising effect that can last for years. This is underpinned by comprehensive research. But is it always better to work, no matter what quality job you can get? Could it actually be better not to? Could a labour market course worsen your chance of employment?

The inequality pain threshold has been reached

(Jun 22, 2017) The inequality pain threshold has been reached. The OECD now wants the world to think again about what the term economic growth should entail.

Challenging globalisation’s winners: The OECD wants to bridge the divides

(Jun 22, 2017) The OECD’s Stefano Scarpetta calls the new narrative a paradigm shift. We must change the ideas which have created an increasing gap between rich and poor, says Secretary-General Angel Gurría: Economic growth is not enough, we need a new vision for inclusive and sustainable development. The social dimension broke through clearly at the OECD Forum 2017.

The Nordic region wants more refugees in work

(Jun 22, 2017) The Nordic countries are leading the way when it comes to the inclusion of refugees, says the OECD’s Thomas Liebig. He holds up the unique structural introduction programmes as one example. The problem is that not many find work after finishing the programme. Norway’s Minister of Labour Anniken Hauglie wants to improve the way the measure is targeted in order to get refugees into the labour market.

Everybody wants to know about refugees’ skills

(Jun 22, 2017) While the Nordic countries tightened border controls and made it harder for refugees to seek asylum, they also changed their policies to help refugees get quicker access to the labour market. In Norway the asylum seekers can now register their skills by themselves.