9058009796

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Hartmann, Sweden

Remaining in different employment schemes over longer perłods also facil-itates the creation of alternative life-styles among certain groups of young people. They have learned to combine the limited income from schemes with earnings on the black iabour market or with the eichange of goods and services in the private economy, especially in remote areas of Sweden where hunting and fishing stili play an important role for the life-styles of the małe population. As a side effect, these areas show a high surplus of unmarried males whereas women from the same age-cohorts have moved to the cities with better employment chances in care and personal services.

The experience of survival on a relatively high level of welfare even with-out permanent employment within these groups and the freedom to plan their daily activities without the restrictions of an 8-hour working day may erode the protestant work ethics stili dominating in the Swedish society and lead to a new mii of temporary work, engagement in voluntary organi-zations and in peer-relations. welfare benefits and leisure which. in the end, might result in difficulties to convince young people to work. Espe-cialiy if the work is not in linę with the social eipectations and aspirations of young people, companies eiperience difficulties in hiring young people.

The provisions of a welfare society have opened an alternative for some, though only a smali minority within the youth group, who might come to the conclusion eipressed by one of the respondents in a local survey:

"I cannot afford to take on gainful employment. I will run my own life. Youth team wagę plus some side-earnings give me morę fleiibility and income than a full-time job."

(Andersson U Hartmann, 1986)

In times of decreasing ayailability of paid Iabour, it would be wrong to stop these new, innovative forms of combining welfare provisions on a Iow eco-nomic level with work in the informal economy or the private eichange of services. The goal of full-time employment in the traditional sense of an 8-hour working-day during 46 weeks per year and for almost 50 years of one s life cannot be reached in a society where everybody is eipected to participate in the work-force. Alternative styles of work-organization, new combinations of private and paid work. combined with engagement in vol-untary associations can be facilitated by the provisions of governmental employment schemes. The outcome will not only be an improvement for the individual well-being. but also create a climate for innovation both, in economy and in public services. The eiperience of local employment initia-tives and alternative work schemes in Sweden and in a number of Euro-pean countries does not solve the immediate problem of mass youth unem-ployment. Nevertheless, it can be seen as the nucleus of futurę deyelop-