Norway has high employment rates, but increasing workforce inclusion would benefit both individuals and society. This is particularly relevant for young people who have their entire lives ahead of them. However, data from surveys, health registries, and sickness absence statistics indicate that mental health problems are becoming an increasing threat to labor market participation among young people and young adults. Gaining insight into the career trajectories of young people with mental health challenges and understanding the impact of the work environment could contribute to more successful inclusion efforts.
Project Objectives
The project aims to identify key factors that help young people with mental health challenges secure and maintain employment. The study will use registry data to identify young individuals who enter paid work and determine whether they had prior mental health issues.
Based on this, the project will examine whether certain companies are particularly inclusive toward young people with mental health problems and what characteristics define these companies. It will also assess whether young people face different levels of work environment strain in their first jobs. Work environment strain will be measured based on the type of occupation they perform and survey-based data on the average psychosocial (“job strain”) and ergonomic stress levels reported by others in the same occupation (job exposure matrices).
The study will track young employees in their first jobs to evaluate how the work environment affects their risk of sickness absence. They will also be tracked over a longer period and across multiple job transitions to investigate the impact of work environment factors on the risk of labor market dropout, defined as a situation where they are neither in employment nor education. The goal is to determine whether the effect of work environment conditions on sickness absence and dropout risk varies depending on whether the individuals have a history of mental health problems.
Project Leader: Eirik Degerud
Project Participant: Tom Sterud
External partner: The project is conducted in collaboration with OsloMet.
More information is to be found on the Norwegian project page.