Youth — Nordic Labour Journal

Do we listen enough to young voices?

(Jan 30, 2025) What is it like to be young in the Nordic region today? We tell the story of young people on their way into working life and the story of some who need help to find their place in the community. Measures aimed at children and young people are high on the political agenda.

Norwegian youths set up company to help other youths

(Jan 30, 2025) Ungt entreprenørskap – a Norwegian entrepreneurship education programme – helps youths access the labour market. At the youth company RaskJobb, five 17-year-olds want to show that young people can and want to work.

Finland’s Minister of Cooperation: Put young people first in difficult times

(Jan 30, 2025) A father of five children, young people and education are among Minister of Cooperation Anders Adlercreutz’s areas of expertise. These are also among the focus areas for the Nordic countries in the coming year.

Swedish Emilia got a job thanks to Youth Power 2.0

(Jan 30, 2025) Despite a growing business sector, many young people were long-term unemployed in Åstorp in southern Sweden in the spring of 2024. Now, new job opportunities have been created through building relations with both private and municipal employers. The motto is: Everyone must get a chance.

Danish students turn entrepreneurs to make a difference

(Jan 30, 2025) An increasing number of students at Aarhus University choose entrepreneurship to solve important social challenges. One of them is medical doctor Christina Gravgaard Andersen, who has set up her own company while studying.

Nordic youth on what is needed to give them faith in the future

(Jan 30, 2025) Many young people in the Nordics have a dim view of the future. Some struggle with mental health, remain outside education and work, and many worry a lot about their own generation. The Nordic Labour Journal has asked what they think is needed to create a brighter future.

Why Swedish countryside youths are ahead in the labour market

(Jan 30, 2025) In Sweden, fewer young people from the countryside go on to university or other higher education compared with city youths. Yet more young people in rural areas – and especially men – start working earlier than their peers in towns and metropolitan areas. Many also work while studying.

Early intervention helps Icelandic youth back on their feet

(Jan 30, 2025) In southern Iceland, a youth centre is working closely with other municipal agencies to ensure young people do not slip through the cracks on their journey to further education or the labour market.

AFI research: The sick leave debate needs readjusting

(Nov 17, 2024) Norway has one of the highest sick leave levels in the world. So far, no remedies have proven effective. The debate about sick leave and social exclusion sometimes needs a bit of guidance to stop it from going off track, says AFI researchers.

New Nuuk airport could provide lift for Greenland’s labour market

(Oct 21, 2024) Direct cross-Atlantic flights to Nuuk could bring even more tourists to Greenland and in the long term encourage Greenlandic youths to get an education and find work in their home country.

Young Norwegians increasingly unhappy with working life

(Aug 15, 2024) The 2024 Working Life Barometer shows more people are struggling financially, more fear losing their jobs or becoming ill and many young people are unhappy with working life.

Danielle - from Party Swede to seamstress

(Jun 20, 2024) Like tens of thousands of other Swedish youths, Danielle Backström travelled to Norway to work. She became one of the “Party Swedes” who worked in restaurants, cafés and bars. Since then, she has worked as a home carer and with plants. Now, she is training to become a seamstress.

Finnish future report: Youths worry about fitting into the labour market

(May 27, 2024) Finnish school students have become more anxious about their ability to succeed in the future job market. A new future report shows only 53 per cent of young people are enthusiastic about entering the labour market. In 2018 82 per cent said the same.

Socially excluded young people, a key issue across the Nordics

(Feb 29, 2024) Across the Nordic region, there is a focused search for measures to include young people who are not in education or employment into the labour market. Researchers agree that the best solution is for young individuals to be followed up by people they can have close and long-term relationships with. But the number of people who find themselves socially excluded remains approximately on the same level.

Danish Royal stardust for youth jobs in Esbjerg

(Feb 29, 2024) ”Energy for Each Other” is a youth initiative in Esbjerg municipality, known across Denmark, which has won an award for getting young people into education and work. Three of those young people now work at Den Jyske Kontrolcentral, where head of operations Erik Sørensen is very content with his young co-workers.

Employment specialist helped Norwegian Julia (17) find her dream job

(Feb 29, 2024) Close cooperation between two public authorities in Norway is giving young people with mental health challenges a new chance in the classroom or in the labour market. Employment specialist Anne Tvedt helped Julia Engan Pettersen find her dream job.

Iceland: Work is better than therapy for vulnerable youth

(Feb 29, 2024) “It pays to invest in people, and we must never give up on our young people,” says Vigdís Jónsdóttir, the CEO of the job rehabilitation centre VIRK in Iceland. Last year, VIRK was one of the signatories to a memorandum of understanding involving a large increase in support for young people in vulnerable situations.

Considerable local differences in Sweden's efforts for NEETs

(Feb 29, 2024) Swedish municipalities have very different approaches to how they help more young people with social inclusion, according to a survey that also includes examples of successful measures. Meanwhile, a Nordic project is working to improve young people’s mental health – one of the biggest risk factors for ending up in social exclusion.

Norway faces tough competition for green expertise

(Nov 06, 2023) Norway lacks the necessary competencies for a successful green transition. The Vocational School in Oslo is trying to do something about it.

Norwegian workers lukewarm to further education

(Aug 22, 2023) The annual workforce barometer shows fewer and fewer workers in Norway want to take further education and training.