Unemployment and Social Networks among Young Persons in Sweden

A concentration of unemployment in social networks has been found in a number of European countries, including the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. These are countries that have had high unemployment rates for a number of years. The phenomenon can be seen as an indicator of a process of marginalisation of the unemployed, via which they become isolated from people at work. This is likely to be a major threat to solidarity and integration in society. What is the situation like in Sweden? The country has enjoyed a long period of low unemployment, but the situation has changed dramatically during the 90s. The study describes unemployment concentration among young people, and their parents, siblings and friends over the first eight months after leaving school (in June 1996). Results indicate a tendency to concentration even after controlling for a number of structural factors (education, sex, ethnicity, parents’ socio-economic status, and local unemployment rate). These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.