Youth, diversity and employment in times of crisis and economic restructuring – an introduction

Abstract

Including youth in the labour market is a major challenge in many European countries, including the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). During the Great Recession since 2007-08, most European countries witnessed increases in the rate of young adults not in employment, education or training (NEETs) as well as in the rate of young people registered as 'unemployed' (

Turning a blind eye to employers’ discrimination? Attitudinal barrier perceptions of vision impaired youth from Oslo and Delhi

“…As the barrier perceptions of YAVI belong to select white-collar jobs located in Delhi, they ought to be cautiously interpreted and cannot be extrapolated to the vast swathes of the informal labour market prevailing in India. However, the Norwegian labour market is mostly formal and well-regulated (Vedeler 2014) and the YAVI in Oslo could lean on the formal institutions such as the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration to get paid work internships and other job-seeking support (Halvorsen and Hvinden 2018). Therefore, their barrier perceptions could be indicative of a labour market failure, which might be more ubiquitous.…”

“…The labour market in Norway is formal and well regulated with robust employment protection measures. For example, there exists a Working Environment Act (2015) and an Anti-Discrimination and Accessibility Law (2017), which prohibits employers to discriminate on the grounds of disability during the recruitment process (Halvorsen and Hvinden 2018). Furthermore, 'Norwegian employers are not allowed to ask impairment-related questions' (Vedeler 2014, 598) during the job-interviews.…”

“…Therefore, this exploratory article is valuable on three fronts. First, the employment experiences of disabled youth from Norway have previously been compared to developed Global North countries belonging to the Nordic region (Halvorsen and Hvinden 2014), Europe (Halvorsen and Hvinden 2018) and North-America (Vedeler 2014), and no attempt has been made to compare their employment experiences across the Global North South divide. Second, more specifically, the employment experiences of YAVI are well-documented for developed countries (Berge 2007;Cavenaugh and Giesen 2012;Connors et al 2014;Opinion 2018;Shaw, Gold, and Wolffe 2007), and there is a dearth of similar research emerging from developing countries, such as India (Singal 2008).…”

‘In the Next Moment I Answer, it is Not Possible.’ Professionals’ Experiences from Transition Planning for Young People

“…However, professionals in the habilitation services have a common responsibility to do their very best to prevent YPDs becoming not in education, employment, or training' (NEETs). Halvorsen and Hvinden (2018a;2018b) demonstrate that YPDs are at greater risk of becoming NEETs than young people without disabilities. They argue that the former must be provided real opportunities for exercising influence over the services provided -in other words, for practicing co-production of services.…”

Competing Institutional Logics and Paradoxical Universalism: School-to-Work Transitions of Disabled Youth in Switzerland and the United States

“…Although special education programs have fostered integration into education systems and provide supports to access curricular contents, children and youth with recognized impairments or special educational needs (SEN) are routinely stigmatized and separated or segregated from their peers-this constituting much of their disablement (Powell, 2011(Powell, /2016. Their school-to-work transitions are especially challenging, as comparisons of transition outcomes from the United States (Haber et al, 2016) and Europe (Halvorsen & Hvinden, 2018) emphasize. The focus on transitions between schooling and vocational education and training (VET) and labor markets is driven by the importance of success in mastering these transitions for life chances.…”