Jessica Arvidsson

Post-school options for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden

The aim of this article is to examine life after school for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden. It identifies a snapshot of the post-school destination in 2011 of students of Swe ...

New labour market - old gender roles : working life after school for young adults with intellectual disability in Sweden

Transition into employment for young people with intellectual disabilities (ID) still poses a serious challenge to all stakeholders. Project Search UK (originating in the US) has developed over the last 5 years with some government support. The paper presents the results of an analysis of current employment rates for this programme in the UK.Aim: Taking a gender perspective, this study explores and analyzes the labour market situation for 2745 gainfully employed men and women with an educational background in the Swedish upper secondary school for pupils with intellectual disability (ID).Method: This quantitative register study is based on the cross-classification of a newly created register and a two additional Swedish national registers. The analyses are based on logistic regression and chi-square tests.Results: Those who are employed after upper secondary school for pupils with ID are 70.8% men and 29.2% women. Both the road to work and the situation at work differs between men and women. Small private companies are the main employers in general, and for women the public sector is also a major employer. Men and women are mainly employed in traditionally “male” and “female” occupations. Also, salary levels and additional support from the welfare system differs between the sexes and within the different educational programs.Conclusion: Traditional gender roles of the labour market are clearly manifested among the people included in the study. Questions about the gender structure of the Swedish labour market and the impact of educational background on wage labour will be discussed.

Upper secondary school – and then?

Aim: The education system in Sweden has not yet formed a sustainable way into higher education and lifelong learning for students with intellectual disabilities. Discussions on inclusive education ...