9058009794

- 15 -

Hartmann. Sweden

youth to continue to other forms of education. The tendency to 'lock-up' young people in the public system of an artificially created youth labour market is very pronounced. In order to avoid overt unemployment and a long duration of relief-work, young people tend to shift between different types of programmes and shorter temporal jobs offered by the Labour Ad-ministration, without being able to obtain a permanent job on the open labour market. They are caught in what might be called the unemployment career.

Graph 5.1. about here

While the governmental system of differentiated programmes directed to certain age-groups leads to a steady increase in wages receiyed for the participation in schemes, the young people, after 10 years in the system, might still be at the same point: unemployed. (SCB-valfardsbulletin, 1985)

The creation of a marginalized youth group outside the ordinary work force, perhaps even stigmatized and eicluded from employment on the open market because of their participation in the public schemes, has been a special feature in the discussion of the effects of youth teams. Contrary to the younger age groups, it cannot be claimed that these 18 and 19 year-olds lack vocational training, are not fulfilling the requirements of indus-trial safety regulations and therefore are disadvantaged in the competition for work. But their failure to obtain gainful employment after secondary education in the field of their trade and placement in a youth team in the public sector gives them even fewer chances in the job competition with those employed on the open labour market.

While the average unemployment ratę among the 20-24 year olds was 6.4X in 1985. those who had left youth teams the year before ezperienced overt unemployment amounting to 12% and in addition another 8% were engaged in new types of schemes. Although overt unemployment of youth has to be regarded as the worse alternative, the lock-up effect of the schemes is the natura! outcome of the comprehensive system. (Fasth, 1985)