Did peoples’ work lives become more complex?
The Swedish labor market has undergone major changes after World War II – and working-life is often described as having become much more complex. But the pace of change has not increased recently. This is shown by a new study from SOFI, published in European Societies.
Swedish working life has not become more complex in recent years – this is shown in a new study by Johan Westerman, Dirk Witteveen, Erik Bihagen and Roujman Shahbazian.
The study "Work life complexity no longer on the rise: trends among 1930s–1980s birth cohorts in Sweden", published in European Societies, analyzes work-life for people born between the 1930s and the 1980s. The results show that, while there was an initial increase in work-life complexity, this was followed by stability.
The definition of work-life complexity used by the researchers hinges on the sequencing and frequency of transitions between various states, such as employment, self-employment, inactivity, unemployment, education, and parental leave, across a substantial duration of a person's working life.
The upper secondary school reform – one possible explanation
One of the key findings of the study is that the initial increase in work-life complexity, observed for those born in the 1950s and 60s, is mainly driven by changes in the early-career phase – in ages 18 to 37.
– But for early-careers for those born in the 70's and forward, complexity is stable. For mid-careers, ages 38 to 54, complexity is relatively stable for a longer time, says Johan Westerman, a researcher at SOFI and the Institute for Future Studies.
Dirk Witteveen, a researcher at Oxford University and one of the authors of the study, suggests several factors that could explain the flattening trend in work-life complexity.
– One possible explanation is the increase in the number of young people following a standardized higher education path. In 1991, Sweden implemented an education reform that made all high school programs three years long. This may have contributed to a lower level of complexity for some young Swedes. In addition, the influx of people to university has stopped, which may also be a reason for the stalled trend in the complexity of working life.
The gender differences have decreased over time
Moreover, there are clear gender differences in work-life complexity, with women consistently having higher rates of complexity than men, attributed to more and longer episodes of parental leave. However, the difference between men and women is decreasing over time.
– The difference may be due to more and longer periods of parental leave, says Roujman Shahbazian, researcher at Munich's Ludwig Maximilian University and SOFI.
The study's authors suggest that future research could explore the relationship between educational expansion and work-life complexity, as well as the importance of job shifts for complexity trends. Comparing data from other high-income countries could also help to determine if the flattening complexity trend is a broader phenomenon.
The authors emphasize that future developments, such as advances in AI technologies and economic turbulence, could result in a new increase in career complexity, requiring further investigation.
How the study was conducted
The study utilized the Swedish population register, which includes data on all individuals born from 1930 to 1983 and residing in Sweden, amounting to approximately 8 million people. This extensive time frame and large population allowed for the analysis of work-life careers during early adulthood (ages 18 to 37) and mid-life (ages 38 to 54), as well as separate examinations for men and women.
The researchers defined work-life complexity based on the sequencing and frequency of transitions among different states, including employment, self-employment, inactivity, unemployment, education, and parental leave.
Last updated: June 7, 2023
Source: SOFI