Labour market regulations, changes in working life and the importance of apprenticeship training : A long-term and comparative view on youth transition from school to work

Summary, in English

What is the significance of regulations of job contracts and wages when it comes to young people’s access to labour market? This is an issue that has attracted and continues to attract a great deal of interest in both research and politics. Proposals for deregulated employment protection and reduced entry-level pay recur regularly in public debate. In our view it is incomprehensible
how sectors of the labour market that are dominated by jobs with low productivity and unstable employment conditions could be expected to offer a permanent solution for the large group of young people who are currently finding it difficult to enter the labour market and reach an acceptable standard of living. Instead, the responses to the challenges facing young people in
the labour market could involve training in the form of apprenticeships rather than more insecure jobs and/or lower pay. Essentially, our starting point is that apprenticeship training could provide a more accurate response to the challenges facing young people in working life. This response would not involve the costs in terms of increased social polarisation and increased social risks that may follow in the wake of an increasingly deregulated labour market.

• Author: Jonas Olofsson; Alexandru Panican
• Department/s: School of Social Work
• Publishing year: 2019-02-26
• Language: English
• Pages: 945-965
• Publication/Series: Policy Futures in Education
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 8
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1478210319831567
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Symposium Journals
• Topic: Social Work
• Keywords: Labour market regulations; entry-level pay; school-to-work transition; apprenticeship training; labour market regulations; entry-level pay; school-to-work transition; apprenticeship training
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1478-2103