Quantitative research methods

Criminological evaluation

Thesis supervision and examination

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Housing Evictions and Economic Hardship. A Prospective Study

  2018. Anna Kahlmeter, Olof Bäckman, Lars Brännström. European Sociological Review 34 (1), 106-119

  Article

  Research has demonstrated that evictions primarily affect vulnerable populations. However, relatively little is known about the consequences eviction has, particularly regarding economic outcomes. Using comprehensive Swedish national register data on evictions in 2009, this study tests two competing hypotheses regarding to what extent an eviction affects subsequent economic hardship for an already disadvantaged group. The degree to which individuals rely on means-tested social assistance is used as an indicator of economic hardship. The cumulative disadvantage perspective predicts that additional strain will compound the economic hardship experienced by the group. In contrast, the disadvantage saturation perspective suggests that additional adversities may not add to economic hardship for disadvantaged individuals. Results from propensity score matching analyses show that, the year immediately after eviction, the degree of social assistance receipt was around 8 percentage points higher for the evicted group than for the matched comparison group. In the following 3 years, the degree of social assistance receipt continued to be significantly higher for those evicted compared to peers. The results lend support to the cumulative disadvantage perspective and suggest that—in the context of preventing evictions—policy measures such as assistance to repay rent arrears would be adequate to prevent further economic hardship.

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• Does housing instability matter for youths’ educational attainment? Findings from Swedish longitudinal register data

  2020. Anna Kahlmeter. Acta Sociologica

  Article

  There is an ample body of research demonstrating the link between housing instability and adverse outcomes. The bulk of this research, however, largely relies on broad operationalizations, generally not considering different types of housing instability. This study extends previous research by focusing on adolescents facing a variety of residential events, including moves, imminent threats of eviction and forced relocations, while also considering the significance of distance. Adopting a counterfactual approach, and drawing on unique data on evictions in Sweden alongside a link to longitudinal registers, this study examines the association between housing instability and educational attainment, operationalized as graduation from upper secondary school. Theoretically, the study draws on the family stress model and theory on social capital, the findings providing support for both approaches. Single relocation was found to have a small impact on educational attainment, but forced relocations, repeated relocations and long-distance relocations are of particular significance for understanding the link between housing instability and educational outcomes. The study contributes to an understanding of the roles that different types of residential events play in youths’ educational attainment, and policy implications are discussed.

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• Economic Hardship in Young Adulthood

  2020. Anna Kahlmeter. Social Policy Review 32

  Chapter

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• Severe violent victimization and labour market exclusion: The significance of the victim-offender overlap

  2022. Anna Kahlmeter. European Journal of Criminology

  Article

  Evidence that violent victimization is associated with an array of negative outcomes over the life-course is mounting. While its links to poor health have been extensively documented, socio-economic outcomes have been left relatively unexplored. In this study, Swedish population register data are utilized to examine the relationship between violent victimization and labour market exclusion, placing particular focus on the moderating role of offending and gender differences in this dynamic. Using data on 12 complete successive cohorts born 1975 to 1986, violent victimization is observed in young adulthood (age 20-24) using patient register data, and is measured as interpersonal violence resulting in hospital admission. Labour market exclusion is operationalized as being not in employment education or training (NEET) and is observed at age 25 and 30. Linear Probability Models are estimated for men and women, respectively. The findings suggest that women who have been victims of violent crime face elevated risks of labour exclusion, both in the short and the long run, and regardless of criminal offending. Men, on the other hand, display no excess risk of labour market exclusion in the absence of violent offending. For the group of male violent offenders, however, victimization adds to the risk of labour market exclusion. Implications of the findings are discussed. 

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• Stressful life events and risks for social exclusion in the youth-to-adulthood transition: Findings from Swedish longitudinal data

  2022. Anna Kahlmeter.

  Thesis (Doc)

  Family background and childhood conditions have long held a special position in the academic literature as an explanation for young people’s life chances. Less attention has been paid to circumstances and events on the cusp of adulthood. This thesis aims to improve the understanding of how stressful life events are associated with future trajectories of education and labour market attachment. The thesis comprises three empirical studies, all of which draw on longitudinal micro data from Swedish administrative registers.

  Study I examines different types of housing instability events, among students in upper secondary school still in the parental nest, focusing on non-forced moves as well as eviction threats and forced relocations. It assesses the association between housing instability and educational attainment, operationalized as graduation from upper secondary school. The results suggest that the instability and stress following forced relocations, repeated relocations and long-distance relocations are of particular significance for understanding the link between housing instability and educational outcomes. Single short-distance relocations seem to have little impact on educational success. Findings also indicate that eviction threats, where a forced relocation was arrested, still may have implications for educational attainment. However, sensitivity tests showed that these estimates were not robust to confounding. Averting an eviction, even at this late stage of housing instability, may thus protect against early school leaving. Further research is however needed.

  Study II follows young individuals from the time of their residential emancipation and maps their labour market establishment trajectories until their mid-thirties, by means of sequence analysis. It then investigates to what extent the experience of economic hardship, measured as different degrees of social assistance receipt, is associated with adverse labour market trajectories. The results indicate that, for a majority of social assistance recipients, the system works as intended, and they transition to education or work rather swiftly, particularly if economic hardship is brief. Extensive hardship, however, is associated with elevated risks of long-term labour market exclusion that persists well into adulthood.

  Study III draws on register data for 12 complete successive cohorts and examines the link between severe violent victimization in young adulthood and labour market exclusion at ages 25 and 30. It puts particular emphasis on the moderating role of offending and gender. The findings suggest that victimized women are a particularly disadvantaged group, having faced a range of social and financial strain. Female victims of violent crime also face elevated risks of labour market exclusion, both in the short- and the long-term, and regardless of criminal offending. For men, however, violent offending moderates the association. While violent victimization adds to the risk of labour market exclusion for male violent offenders, male non-offenders display no elevated risks.

  Taken together, the thesis demonstrates that the experience of these life events in the transition from youth to adulthood place young individuals at heightened risk of educational shortfall and exclusion from the labour market, both in the immediate aftermath and later in life. Implications of the findings are that a long-term perspective is warranted in considerations of both preventive and reactive measures.

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Show all publications by Anna Kahlmeter at Stockholm University