Journal of Youth Studies
Volume 22, Issue 4, 2019, Pages 533-550

Labour market participation among young refugees in Sweden and the potential of education: a national cohort study (Article) (Open Access)

Manhica H.* , Berg L. , Almquist Y.B. , Rostila M. , Hjern A.
  • a Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), Karolinska Institutet/Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
  • b Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), Karolinska Institutet/Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
  • c Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), Karolinska Institutet/Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
  • d Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), Karolinska Institutet/Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
  • e Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), Karolinska Institutet/Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract

This register-based study examined the importance of education on labour market participation among young refugees in Sweden. The study population consisted of unaccompanied (n = 1606) and accompanied refuges (n = 4142), aged 23–26 years in 2006–2010, after 7 years of residence in Sweden. Native Swedish, aged 24 years (n = 347,255) constituted the comparison population, with intercountry adoptees (n = 6689) as an alternative reference group. Gender-stratified multinomial regression models indicated that unaccompanied and accompanied male and female young refugees had higher risks of being in insecure work force and NEET compared to native Swedes with comparable levels of education. However, young refugees and intercountry adoptees with primary education had similar risks of poor labour market outcomes. The educational differences within each group concerning the risk of being in insecure work force were comparable. With the exception of unaccompanied females, secondary education seemed to be less protective against being in NEET among young refugees compared to native Swedes and intercountry adoptees. We conclude that while young refugees face employment disadvantages, education has the potential of mitigating poor labour market outcomes in this group. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Author Keywords

Education Labour market intercountry adoptees NEET (Neither education, employment, or training) Young refugees

Index Keywords

male controlled study education female human outcome assessment cohort analysis major clinical study job market refugee Article employment workforce Young Adult Sweden adult gender human experiment
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85053464538&doi=10.1080%2f13676261.2018.1521952&partnerID=40&md5=f037299544009b4236f411e70f2e0626
DOI: 10.1080/13676261.2018.1521952
ISSN: 13676261
Original Language: English