IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ariqol/v15y2020i3d10.1007_s11482-018-9687-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quality of Life Among Young Finnish Adults not in Employment or Education

Author

Listed:
  • Antti Kivijärvi

    (The Finnish Youth Research Society)

  • Sanna Aaltonen

    (The Finnish Youth Research Society)

  • Leena Forma

    (University of Tampere)

  • Jussi Partanen

    (University of Tampere)

  • Martta Myllylä

    (The Finnish Youth Research Society)

  • Pekka Rissanen

    (National Institute of Health and Welfare)

Abstract

Throughout Europe, there have been constant efforts to calculate the number of young adults not in employment or education. Less knowledge exists on the subjective wellbeing of this hard-to-reach group. In this article we examine the self-reported quality of life (QoL) of young Finnish adults not in employment or education. Original data was drawn from structured and supervised interviews (n = 147) conducted among young adults (16–30) not in employment or education to set it against a nationally representative sample (n = 575) of their counterparts by using WHOQOL-BREF as the main instrument. To reveal the key characteristics of QoL among young adults not in employment and education, the original data was analysed both quantitatively, using descriptive and multivariate methods, and qualitatively, using content analysis. According to the results, most young adults not in employment or education suffer from shortcomings in QoL, mostly in the physical, psychological and social domains. Loneliness and financial difficulties are the independent variables that are most strongly and systematically associated with low QoL. In the respondents’ accounts, deficiencies in psychological QoL in particular are explained by long-term detachments from peers and experiences of being excluded. Financial difficulties are linked with the diminished ability to maintain physical health and with increased stress and anxiety. In some accounts, poor physical and mental conditions were given as reasons for not being in employment or education.

Suggested Citation

  • Antti Kivijärvi & Sanna Aaltonen & Leena Forma & Jussi Partanen & Martta Myllylä & Pekka Rissanen, 2020. "Quality of Life Among Young Finnish Adults not in Employment or Education," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(3), pages 757-774, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:15:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11482-018-9687-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-018-9687-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11482-018-9687-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11482-018-9687-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-659, May.
    2. Maria Bacikova-Sleskova & Jitse Dijk & Andrea Geckova & Iveta Nagyova & Ferdinand Salonna & Sijmen Reijneveld & Johan Groothoff, 2007. "The impact of unemployment on school leavers’ perception of health. Mediating effect of financial situation and social contacts?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 52(3), pages 180-187, June.
    3. Korpi, Tomas, 1997. "Is utility related to employment status? Employment, unemployment, labor market policies and subjective well-being among Swedish youth," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 125-147, June.
    4. Eero Siljander & Minna-Liisa Luoma & Satu Meriläinen-Porras, 2015. "Validity and reliability of Finnish version of WHOQOL-Bref on adult population in Finland," International Journal of Happiness and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(1), pages 52-68.
    5. Badiâa Bouazzaoui & Etienne Mullet, 2002. "Employment and Family as Determinants of Anticipated Life Satisfaction: Contrasting Young Adults’ and Elderly People’s Viewpoints," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 129-152, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Farzin, Y. Hossein & Akao, Ken-Ichi, 2005. "Non-pecuniary Work Incentive and Labor Supply," Working Papers 190910, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    2. Jin, Olivia S. & Wunnava, Phanindra V., 2020. "Feeling Richer and Happier? Self-Perceived Economic Welfare and Life Satisfaction: Evidence of 'Easterlin Paradox' from Russian Longitudinal Data," GLO Discussion Paper Series 625, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Jan Eichhorn, 2013. "Unemployment Needs Context: How Societal Differences between Countries Moderate the Loss in Life-Satisfaction for the Unemployed," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(6), pages 1657-1680, December.
    4. Andrew E. Clark, 2006. "A Note on Unhappiness and Unemployment Duration," Applied Economics Quarterly (formerly: Konjunkturpolitik), Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 52(4), pages 291-308.
    5. Andrew E. Clark & Ed Diener & Yannis Georgellis & Richard E. Lucas, 2008. "Lags And Leads in Life Satisfaction: a Test of the Baseline Hypothesis," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(529), pages 222-243, June.
    6. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2012. "Jobless, Friendless and Broke: What Happens to Different Areas of Life Before and After Unemployment?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 79(315), pages 557-575, July.
    7. Alois Stutzer & Rafael Lalive, 2004. "The Role of Social Work Norms in Job Searching and Subjective Well-Being," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(4), pages 696-719, June.
    8. Sofie Vanassche & Gray Swicegood & Koen Matthijs, 2013. "Marriage and Children as a Key to Happiness? Cross-National Differences in the Effects of Marital Status and Children on Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 501-524, April.
    9. Sherman, Arie & Shavit, Tal, 2009. "Welfare to work and work to welfare: the effect of the reference point -- a theoretical and experimental study," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 290-292, December.
    10. Maximilian Kasy & Lukas Lehner, 2023. "Employing the Unemployed of Marienthal: Evaluation of a Guaranteed Job Program," CESifo Working Paper Series 10394, CESifo.
    11. Kassenböhmer, Sonja C. & Haisken-DeNew, John P., 2008. "You're Fired! The Causal Negative Effect of Unemployment on Life Satisfaction," Ruhr Economic Papers 63, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    12. Oswald, Andrew J, 1997. "Happiness and Economic Performance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(445), pages 1815-1831, November.
    13. Andreas Knabe & Steffen Rätzel & Ronnie Schöb & Joachim Weimann, 2010. "Dissatisfied with Life but Having a Good Day: Time-use and Well-being of the Unemployed," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(547), pages 867-889, September.
    14. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    15. Alois Stutzer & Bruno S. Frey, 2004. "Reported Subjective Well-Being: A Challenge for Economic Theory and Economic Policy," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 124(2), pages 191-231.
    16. Farzin, Y. Hossein & Akao, Ken-Ichi, 2005. "Non-pecuniary Value of Employment and Natural Resource Extinction," Working Papers 190911, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    17. Picchio, Matteo & Ubaldi, Michele, 2022. "Unemployment and Health: A Meta-Analysis," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1128, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Dimitris Mavridis, 2015. "The unhappily unemployed return to work faster," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-22, December.
    19. Andreas Knabe & Steffen Rätzel, 2011. "Scarring or Scaring? The Psychological Impact of Past Unemployment and Future Unemployment Risk," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 78(310), pages 283-293, April.
    20. Roberta Distante, 2013. "Subjective Well-Being, Income and Relative Concerns in the UK," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 81-105, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:15:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11482-018-9687-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.