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Hartmann, Sweden    - 8 -

But despite a rise in the ąuantity and ąuality of youth education during the 1970s, which lowered the generał participation ratę of youth on the labour market, youth unemployment became higher and higher.

Graph 4.1 about here

12. The Causes of Youth Unemploymenl

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In Sweden, as in most other countries, yarious causes of the growth of youth unemployment were discussed among politicians and the generał public. High cost of youth labour, Iow level of yocational training, łąck of work ezperience and a Iow individual motiyation of young people to obtain jobs were mentioned as causes, along with the eiternal influences of a de-cline in economic growth. For a detailed discussion of the economic theories and the diagnostic debate see Bruno and Lindner, 1987.

In generał, the demand for labour or the eiistence of unemployment can be eiplained by applying two concepts:

a)    Factors influencing the supply of youth labour as e.g. cohort-size, structure of schooling, ąualification levels among youth. legislation concerning youth employment;

b)    factors influencing the demand for youth labour as e.g. economic growth, technological change, wage-levels, competition with other employable groups as women or migrants.

In the case of Sweden, the first set of supply factors had some limited influence on the employment situation of young people during the last decade. While the increase of the number of youth aged 16-20 augmented the competition for attractive secondary education and available jobs, the rise of secondary education lowered youth labour force participation and the eiisting industrial safety regulations madę it morę difficult to employ persons below the age of 18.

However. all these factors can neither eiplain the rapid rise in youth unemployment in the late 1970s nor the establishment of a secluded, publicly administered youth labour market. It is the change in labour demand that predominantly has led to the change in the youth employment structure. The decline of economic growth as an effect of the oil-crisis, structural and technological rationalization in industry and cut-backs in public ser-vices brought recruitment of new personnel almost to a stand-still. In linę