Abstract

Author: Julia Castlin and Robin Andersson

Title: The impact of unemployment - About job seekers perceptions and experiences of unemployment and health

Supervisor: Jan Karlsson

The aim of this study was to examine how unemployed experience their everyday life and how their health is affected by being unemployed. Another purpose of this study was toexamine which challenges the unemployed are experiencing and how they are handled. Furthermore, this study aspired to see how unemployed can learn about its health during unemployment by experiences from themselves and others. Method: This study included six semi-structured interviews with unemployed, which lasted for 30-40 minutes each. The unemployed, participating in this study had been without work for at least two months and were registered on, or in the process of registration with Arbetsförmedlingen (Employment Service, the largest agency providing jobs in Sweden). Theory: The theories that are addressing both health and pedagogy are: sense of coherence (SOC), experiential learning and communities of practice. All of these three theories have formed the core of an analyzing table, which facilitates findings of correlation between empirical data and theory, in order to enable answers regarding the purpose of this study. Results: The results that emerged from this study indicated that the health of unemployed is affected by the self-efficacy of achieving their individual goals. Expectations from the social environment also seem to be a factor to the health of the unemployed. Resources in terms of financial security and social support also showed indications of contributing to a better subjective well-being. The majority of the unemployed in this study perceived that receiving employment was the greatest challenge. However, the causes of the perceived difficulties were varying and the obstacles were individual, such as lack of resources, lack of experience/education and competition on the labor market. The interviews also revealed that several of the participants had developed new “ideas/theories” that can facilitate the management of similar situations in the future. These new ideas may have emerged either through own experience or through exchange with other people. Conclusion: The health status during unemployment seems to be dependent of the individual’s manageability of the situation, as in accordance with the theories of experiential learning and self-efficacy, depends on the individual’s previous experience and self-efficacy.Thus the likelihood of receiving employment seems to increase if the individual has a strong SOC.