Authors

• Forth, Alti (Tampere University)

Keywords

expectations, government policy, job hunting, standard of living, unemployed, unemployment, well-being

Abstract

The data consists of writings by unemployed job seekers. The data was originally collected for a master's thesis examining how the political decisions made by the Orpo government are reflected in the everyday lives of unemployed job seekers.

The aim of the call for writings was to find out what the changes and cuts made by the government in the areas of social, health, and employment policy mean in practice. Respondents were free to write about their experiences, but the call for submissions also offered a few guiding questions to help them. The questions provided an opportunity to reflect on, for example, how the government's decisions have affected the respondent's everyday life, livelihood, or the services they use, as well as how it feels to be an unemployed job seeker in the current climate. The questions also asked whether the respondent felt heard and seen in society, whether their attitude toward the future had changed as a result of the government's actions, and what they would like decision-makers to understand about their life.

Background information was asked about age group, education, duration of unemployment, and whether the respondent had participated in employment promotion services as an unemployed job seeker.