Syftet med studien var att beskriva hur arbetslösa personer i tjänsten Stöd och matchning upplever delaktighet i aktivitet. Författaren använde kvalitativ metod med induktiv ansats. Datainsamlingen genomfördes genom intervjuer med bedömningsinstrumentet OCAIRS-S som grund. Fem deltagare rekryterades med bekvämlighetsurval på en mindre ort i Sverige. Författaren spelade in intervjuerna för att sedan transkribera och bearbeta dem genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med stöd av komponenter i ICF. Resultatet visade bland annat att deltagarna hade lätt att ge upp och saknade rutiner i sitt vardagsliv. Alla upplevde även att de klarar sig bra på sin inkomst och hade möjlighet att utföra alla aktiviteter de ville och behövde göra. De spenderade mycket tid ensamma och hade några få nära relationer. De flesta trivdes i arbetslösheten och alla såg positivt på framtiden. Ingen av dem letade aktivt efter möjligheter till arbete och de var inte heller initiativtagande. Slutsatserna som gjordes var att deltagarna saknar proaktivitet och motivation till att skaffa arbete. De skulle ha nytta av arbetsterapi för aktivitetsträning och/eller anpassning av aktiviteten ”att söka arbete”. Vidare forskning med större underlag behövs för en djupare förståelse. / The study’s purpose was to describe how unemployed people in the service Stöd och matchning experience participation in activities. A qualitative method with an inductive approach was used. The data gathering was conducted as interviews from the assessment instrument OCAIARS-S. Five participants was recruited with inductive approach in a smaller town in Sweden.  The interviews were recorded, transcribed and processed through a qualitative content analysis with support of components in ICF. The result showed that the participants were quick to give up and lacked routines in everyday life. All experienced that they survived on their income and had the ability to perform the occupations they wanted and needed to. The participants spent much time alone and had few close relations. They felt no discontent for being unemployed and looked positively on the future. None of them actively searched for possibilities or took initiative. The conclusions were that the participants lack the proactivity and motivation to get a job. The participants would benefit occupational therapy for activity training and or with activity adaptation. Further research is necessary for deeper understanding.

The number of persons who are not employed has increased in Sweden since the early 1990s. Unemployment has been found to influence health, especially when unemployment rates are low. The extent to which unemployment affects health when unemployment is high is less clear, and this needs to be further studied. To improve health in the population, the health care system should offer equal access to health care according to need. It is important to study whether the employment status hinders the fulfilment of this goal. This thesis is based on four papers: Paper I and II aimed at analysing self-rated health versus mortality risk in relation to employment status, during one period of low unemployment and one period of high unemployment. Paper III and IV assessed the use of medical health care services and unmet care needs among persons who were unemployed or otherwise not employed. The goal was to analyse what health problems lead people to either seek or abstain from seeking care, and what factors encumber or facilitate this process. The overall results indicate that being unemployed or outside the labour force was associated with an excess risk of poor self-rated health, symptoms of depression, mental and physical exhaustion and mortality. The differences in self-rated health between the unemployed and employed were larger when unemployment levels were high, than when they were low. More groups of the unemployed were also afflicted with poor health when unemployment was high. Thus, poor health among the unemployed seems to be a public health problem during high levels of unemployment. Lack of employment was related to abstaining from seeking care, despite perceiving a need for care, and this was related to psychological symptoms. To deal with the needs of the unemployed and others who are outside the labour force it would be useful to develop and implement interventions within the health care system. These should focus on psychological and psychosocial problems. Future research should analyse how to facilitate health-promoting interventions among persons who are not anchored in the labour market.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When South Africa re-entered the global arena, her immediate priority was to search for and affirm her position in the global economy. In this process, South Africa has witnessed massive job losses that compounded the already existing problem of unemployment. South Africa is considered to be one of the countries with the highest levels of unemployment - a fact that has raised a great deal of concern among Government, Business and Labour. This study project examines the functioning of South Africa's labour market with the intention of establishing whether or not it is linked to the problem of unemployment. The study draws labour-flexibility comparisons between the world's most flexible and deregulated labour market (USA) and Europe; and, relatively, tries to find South Africa's position. The study has revealed that there is a relationship between flexibility and employment - countries with flexible labour markets, ceteris paribus, also have high levels of ~- employment and vice versa. The study has also revealed that a culmination of high levels of illiteracy, trade union activities and the new labour laws has resulted into labour market rigidities which are partly responsible for the high rate of unemployment in South Africa. The study has also revealed that any effort by South Africa to adopt the US-style of labour market flexibility should be accompanied by some other policy checks to ensure maximum benefits. This is based on the finding that flexibility per se could have devastating effects for the economy. It is not only the labour market rigidities that are responsible for the current high rate of unemployment in South Africa. Factors like persistent and systematic decline in labour absorption capacity vis-a '-vis persistent and systematic increase in labour supply, decline in economic growth and globalisation claim a lion's share. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Met Suid-Afrika se hertoetrede tot die internasionale arena was sy eerste prioriteit om sy plek in die wêreldekonomie te vind en te bevestig. Algaande het Suid-Afrika 'n grootskaalse verlies aan werkgeleenthede ervaar, wat die reeds bestaande probleem van werkloosheid vererger het. Vandag word Suid-Afrika beskou as een van die lande met die hoogste vlakke van werkloosheid - wat groot kommer by die regering, besigheid en arbeid wek. Hierdie werkstuk ondersoek die funksionering van Suid-Afrika se arbeidmark met die doel om vas te stel of dit met die probleem van werkloosheid verband hou al dan nie. Die studie maak vergelykings ten opsigte van arbeidsbuigsaamheid tussen die wêreld se mees buigsame en gedereguleerde arbeidsmark (VSA) en Europa, en poog om Suid-Afrika se relatiewe posisie te bepaal. Die studie toon dat daar 'n verband tussen buigsaamheid en werkverskaffing is - dat lande met buigsame arbeidsmark, ceteris paribus, ook hoë vlakke van werkverskaffing het, en omgekeerd. Die studie het ook bevind dat 'n hoë vlak van ongeletterdheid, vakbondaktiwiteite en die nuwe arbeidswette aanleiding gegee het tot arbeidsmarkonbuigsaamheid, wat gedeeltelik verantwoordelik is vir die hoë werkloosheidsyfer in Suid-Afrika. Die studie toon verder dat enige poging deur Suid-Afrika om die arbeidsmarkbuigsaamheid van die VSA toe te pas, met ander beleidsmaatreëls gepaard moet gaan om maksimum voordele te verseker. Dit is gegrond op die bevinding dat buigsaamheid per se verreikende gevolge vir die ekonomie kan hê. Dit is nie net die onbuigsaamheid van die arbeidsmark wat vir die huidige hoë werkloosheidsyfer in Suid-Afrika verantwoordelik is nie. Faktore soos 'n volgehoue en stelselmatige afname in die kapasiteit om arbeid te absorbeer teenoor 'n volgehoue en stelselmatige toename in arbeidsaanbod, 'n afname in ekonomiese groei, en globalisering is vir 'n leeue-aandeel verantwoordelik.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Nearly five million South Africans were unemployed in 2002 and creating employment opportunities is a difficult challenge. Before this issue can be tackled, however, it is critical to understand the problem. This thesis opts to contribute to this understanding by considering aspects around the demand for labour. The analysis considers a selection of the theoretical literature on the demand for labour, estimates key labour market parameters and then undertakes a number of simulations using a structural model. There are many conflicting paradigms that can be used to analyse the issue: microeconomic versus macroeconomic; neoclassical versus structuralist; theoretical versus empirical and so forth. Some of these paradigms are considered as part of the attempt to build an empirical framework that can be used to analyse the issue. The empirical results of the thesis suggest that: • Higher real wages lead to lowering of the quantity demanded of labour. The thesis estimates an economy-wide wage elasticity of employment of approximately -0,67; • Higher output stimulates the demand for labour. The single equation estimate of the employment elasticity of output is between 0,66 and 0,75, whilst the economy-wide estimate is approximately 1,1. The latter takes into account feedback effects from other macroeconomic variables, such as productivity and wages; • There is little evidence to show that the efficiency wage hypothesis holds - higher productivity leads to higher wages, but the converse is not true; • Union power increases real wages, indirectly leading to a fall in the demand for labour. This suggests that the labour market has insiders and outsiders; and • The relative price of labour is also important, with a fall in the cost of capital leading to a decrease in the demand for labour. Simulations suggest that job creation can be achieved through policies that encourage wage moderation and increase economic growth. There is also a potential role, albeit limited, for fiscal incentives such as a mooted earned income tax credit. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Byna vyf miljoen Suid-Afrikaners was werkloos in 2002 en werkskepping is 'n moeilike uitdaging. Voordat hierdie kwessie aangepak kan word, is dit egter noodsaaklik om die probleem te verstaan. Hierdie tesis dra by tot hierdie begrip deur te fokus op punte rondom die vraag na arbeid. Die ontleding kyk na 'n verskeidenheid van teoretiese literatuur oor die vraag na arbeid en identifiseer sleutel-parameters vir die arbeidsmark. Daar is soveel teenstrydige paradigmas wat gebruik kan word om die kwessie te ontleed: Mikro-ekonomies teenoor makro-ekonomies; neoklassiek teenoor strukturalisties; teoreties teenoor empiries, ensovoorts. Sommige van hierdie paradigmas word bespreek as deel van die poging om 'n empiriese raamwerk te bou wat gebruik kan word om die kwessie te ontleed. Die empiriese resultate van die tesis toon: • Hoër reële lone lei tot 'n verlaging van die hoeveelheid arbeid aangevra. Die tesis beraam die ekonomiewye loonelastisiteit van indiensneming op sowat - 0,67; • Hoër uitset stimuleer die vraag na arbeid. Die enkelvergelyking-raming van die uitset-elastisiteit van indiensneming is tussen 0,66 en 0,75, terwyl die ekonomiewye raming sowat 1,1 is. Laasgenoemde neem terugvoerinvloede van ander makro-ekonomiese veranderlikes in ag, bv. produktiwiteit en lone. • Daar is min bewyse dat die doeltreffende loon-hipotese water hou: Hoër produktiwiteit lei tot hoër lone, maar die teendeel is onwaar; • Vakbonde se mag verhoog reële lone, wat indirek lei tot 'n daling van die vraag na arbeid. Dit dui daarop dat die arbeidsmark 'n binnekring en buitestaanders het; en • Die relatiewe prys van arbeid is ook belangrik: 'n Afname van die koste van kapitaal veroorsaak 'n daling van die vraag na arbeid. Simulasies toon dat werkskepping bevorder kan word deur beleid wat loonmatiging en ekonomiese groei bevorder. Daar is ook 'n rol, alhoewel beperk, vir fiskale insentiewe, b.v. 'n loonsubsidie.

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

Labor market change in societies where an information economy is evolving, is a central area of concern for information society scholars today. While there has been considerable research conducted on cases of developed countries, research on labor market changes during a transition to an information economy outside of the advanced industrial economies is scarce. Thus, this dissertation proposes to examine the changes in wage, employment, and occupation structure that take place when an NIC, such as Taiwan, ushers in an information economy, and to explore the reasons behind these changes. This dissertation combined the historical, policy, and statistical analyses and concluded that the transformation from labor intensive manufacturing to an information intensive economy, as arranged by the Taiwanese government due to its own political and governing purposes, and also in the context of international political and economic circumstances, determined Taiwan’s economic resource arrangement, which resulted in an increasingly unbalanced labor market in terms of wage distribution, unemployment, and occupation structure. This transformation changed and shaped the structure of the labor market to benefit workers more skilled with information, more professional, having higher level knowledge and a higher level of education, while an increasing amount of white-collar and service workers began earning comparatively low wages. At the same time the demand for blue-collar and lower skill workers severely declined. Moreover, the total labor demand of information manufacturing and information intensive service is much less than that of traditional labor intensive manufacturing, resulting in Taiwan’s increasing unemployment problem. Among these processes, many different social, political, policy, and economic factors interacted and collectively determined this result. Among them, the role of the state in shaping Taiwan’s information economy in general and the labor market situation in particular did matter considerably. / text

State government finance is a substantial endeavor in the United States. The management of a multitude of revenues and expenditures often involves some level of fiscal stress. In an age of increased public scrutiny, policymakers must be mindful of possible causes of fiscal stress, and the policy options available to mitigate fiscal stress and increase financial stability. This dissertation contains three essays that examine different elements of fiscal stress, and in some cases, the applicable policy responses. Chapter two examines rainy day funds and their countercyclical goal of reducing recessionary fiscal stress. This essay takes a different approach from much of the literature, by using forecast residuals to quantify fiscal stress as tax revenue volatility and searching for any relationship between rainy day funds and states that had greater volatility. Empirical results indicate states that experience positive residuals, that is actual tax revenues greater than the forecast trend line, had greater rainy day fund balances. Chapter three focuses on the problem of lost revenues facing states from e-commerce. Due to Supreme Court decisions, businesses that do not have a physical location, or nexus, in a state are not required to collect sales and use taxes. To date, the policy response to lost revenue that has gained the most traction is the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. Results indicate that states with local option sales taxes and higher sales tax rates were more likely to adopt this agreement. Chapter four scrutinizes state unemployment trust funds, which are used to fund state unemployment insurance programs. If state funds run short of money during recessions due to the larger number of individuals drawing benefits, then states must borrow from the federal government’s unemployment trust fund. This creates another liability that must be managed by state governments. Empirical findings show that several features of programs affect balances and the probability of taking a loan from the federal fund including the taxable wage base, weekly benefits, and unemployment tax rates. This dissertation concludes by summarizing the results and exploring future research possibilities on the three essay topics.

<p>The aim was to analyse how the political parties, relate to questions of young individuals in Sweden, particularly to the question of youth unemployment. The theoretical basis encompassed two perspectives explaining party politics - “the party as outflow of society” and “the party as actor”, derived from the structure-agency school. Units of analysis were the parliamentary parties and their youth organisations, and the material comprised the parliament’s special debate of youth</p><p>unemployment in 2006, and text from the youth organisations' web sites. The method was qualitative with an interpretative approach. Conclusions were that young individuals in society have a limited impact on the appearance of political parties. No party has a stable responsiveness to questions of young individuals; only three out of the seven youth organisations had the current youth unemployment on the agenda (parties as outflow of society). All parties had suggestions on how to combat unemployment, but not all had suggestions directed towards youth in particular. The proposals were adjusted to other party policies to facilitate a power position through alliances</p><p>(parties as actors). The Centre party brought forward the current youth unemployment the most and “the special youth agreements” might attract new voters, including young individuals, but could also deter traditional voters.</p>

<p>Arbetslöshet är ett omfattande ämne med fokus på psykisk hälsa på grund av försämrad ekonomi. Psykisk ohälsa är ett svårdefinierat begrepp som bland annat innefattar sömnsvårigheter, ängslan och ångest. Under perioden 2004 till 2005 rapporterade arbetslösa individer i Sverige psykisk ohälsa i större utsträckning än arbetande individer. Att vara arbetslös och förälder till barn i förskoleåldern kan vara påfrestande. Studier som undersökt förskolans betydelse för arbetslösa föräldrar har påvisat positiva upplevelser av förskolan under självupplevd psykisk ohälsa.</p><p>Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka arbetslösa småbarnsföräldrars psykiska hälsa och deras upplevelser av hur öppna förskolan i Västerås påverkar den. Studiens metod var kvalitativ och totalt intervjuades fem föräldrar genom halvstrukturerad intervjuform. Intervjuerna analyserades genom innehållsanalys och studien visade att förändringen från arbete till arbetslöshet påverkade föräldrarnas psykiska hälsa negativt på grund av försämrad ekonomi. Barnen var en skyddande faktor för föräldrarnas psykiska hälsa trots den försämrade ekonomin. Föräldrarnas självkänsla försämrades under arbetslöshet och öppna förskolans betydelse upplevdes endast positiv, mestadels tack vare stödjande personal. Mer forskning om ämnet arbetslösa småbarnsföräldrars psykiska hälsa och öppna förskolans betydelse för dem är av stor vikt.</p> / <p>Unemployment is a huge subject with a focus on the change in mental health caused by a worsened economic situation. Poor mental health is a complex concept to define, for instance it include insomnia, nervousness and anxiety. During the period 2004 to 2005 it were reported that the amount of unemployed individuals in Sweden with poor mental health were greater than the amount of employed individuals with poor mental health. Being unemployed and the parent of a preschool child can be stressful. Studies that examined the importance of preschool for unemployed parents with poor mental health have shown positive experiences.</p><p>The aim of this study was to examine unemployed parents’ mental health and the open preschools impact on it.  This study focus on parents with small children. The method of this study was qualitative and a total of five parents were interviewed by a semi-structured interview form. The interviews were analyzed with content analysis and the study showed that unemployed individuals got worse mental health caused by a worsened economic situation. In the worsened economic situation the children had a good impact on the parent’s mental health. The parents self-esteem was decreased during unemployment but the open preschool helped, most because the helpful personnel. More research on the subject of unemployed parents’ mental health and the impact of open preschool is of great importance.</p>