Labour Market Attachment In The Nordic Countries

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.

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.

In 1954 the Nordic countries entered a formal agreement on free labour mobility. Migration profiles have changed very much over the years since then. The Nordic agreement on free mobility is however still a clear advantage, both for the affected individuals and for the participating countries. The report contains a survey of earlier studies of the impact from the Nordic labour market agreement, followed by a broad description of the actual mobility over the 50 years since 1954. Next, the report surveys the actual factors behind the intra-Nordic mobility with special emphasis on cyclical differences between the countries. This is followed by in-depth analyses of characteristics of intra-Nordic migrants compared with people migrating out of the Nordic area. The report contains a survey of earlier studies of the impact from the Nordic labour market agreement, followed by a broad description of the actual mobility over the 50 years since 1954. Next, the report surveys the actual factors behind the intra-Nordic mobility with special emphasis on cyclical differences between the countries. This is followed by in-depth analyses of characteristics of intra-Nordic migrants compared with people migrating out of the Nordic area.

Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden face similar problems of integrating large groups of immigrants, especially low-educated ones from outside the EU, into their labour markets. In this volume, researchers from across the Nordic Region analyse how labour market integration of immigrants can be promoted. Education policy, active labour market policy, social benefit policy and wage policy are analysed. A key conclusion is that no single policy is likely to suffice. Instead, various policies have to be combined. The exact policy mix must depend on evaluations of the trade-offs with other policy objectives.