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Modern populism has developed in Scandinavia since at least the 1970s, first in Norway and Denmark but more recently also in Sweden. Populist political parties have been well-established in Scandinavian Parliaments for many years. However, from a labour law perspective, the populist impact, if any, has been limited and populist discourse has primarily focused on issues such as migration and the European Union (EU), and to some extent ‘welfare tourism’. This article examines the development of populist movements in Norway and Sweden and analyses the possible impact of populist policies on national labour law. The conclusion is that Nordic industrial relations and labour market regulations, based on strong and representative trade unions and well-organized and responsible employer federations, act as a robust counterweight to populist policies on the labour market. Section 2 of the article consists of a discussion of how we understand the development of modern populism in a Norwegian and Swedish perspective. Section 3 explores the extent to which populist political ideas have directly impacted or indirectly influenced labour market regulations in the two countries. In concluding, section 4 monitors the potency of strong and well-established industrial relations as a countervailing force to populist political movements. Populist Policies, Labour Market Regulation, Scandinavia, Norway, Sweden, Resilience to Populism

European societies need to increase the participation in work over the life course to support the provision of qualified labour and to meet the challenges for social security systems under the condition of their ageing populations. One of the key ambitions is to extend people’s working lives and to postpone labour market exit and retirement where possible. This requires informed policies, and the research programme EIWO – ‘Exclusion and Inequality in Late Working Life: Evidence for Policy Innovation towards Inclusive Extended Work and Sustainable Working Conditions in Sweden and Europe’ – aims to push the boundaries of knowledge about late working life and the potential of its inclusive and equal prolongation via a theoretically driven, gender-sensitive combination of multi-level perspectives. EIWO takes a life course approach on exclusion and inequality by security of tenure, quality of work, workplaces, and their consequences. It identifies life course policies, promoting lifelong learning processes and flexible adaptation to prolong working lives and to avoid increased exclusion and inequality. Moreover, it provides evidence for policies to ensure both individual, company and societal benefits from longer lives. To do so, EIWO orientates its analyses systematically to the macro-political contexts at the European Union level and to the policy goals expressed in the respective official statements, reports and plans. This report systematizes this ambitious approach. Relevant documents such as reports, green books and other publications of the European Commission (EC), the European Parliament (EP), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as well as those of social partners and research institutions, have been systematically scanned and evaluated. In addition, relevant decisions of European summits have been considered. The selection of documents claims completeness regarding relevant and generally available publication, while relevance is defined from the point of view of EIWO’s interests. It is the aim of this report to provide a sound knowledge base for EIWO’s analyses and impact strategies and to contribute to the emerging research on the connection between population ageing and the European policies towards productivity, inclusiveness, equity, resilience and sustainability. This report aims to answer the following questions: How are EIWO’s conceptual classification and programme objectives reflected in the European Union’s policy programming? How can EIWO’s analyses and impact benefit from a reference to current EU policy considerations, and how does this focus support the outline of policy options and the formulating of possible proposals to Swedish and European stakeholders? The present report was written during early 2022; analyses were finalized in February 2022 and represent the status until this date. This working paper has been reviewed within the EIWO project group.2022-11-15 Some minor layout issues were corrected in the publication. The PDF was changed. Before this date the PDF was downloaded 34 times.

Den här litteraturöversikten fokuserar på missgynnande och diskriminering på hyresbostadsmarknaden och deras respektive kopplingar till etableringshinder på arbetsmarknaden. Genom en scoping review genomfördes sex intervjuer med forskare knutna till fältet, 1100 artiklar identifierades i en initial litteratursökning och 32 artiklar ansågs uppfylla kriterierna för litteraturöversikten. Av översikten kan vi dra slutsatsen att missgynnande och diskriminering förekommer på hyresbostadsmarknaden och utgör etableringshinder som i förlängningen försvårar arbetsmarknadsetablering. Det rör sig såväl om direkt diskriminering i ansökningsprocesser som om missgynnande till följd av socioekonomisk ojämlikhet och effekter av policyer. Vidare framkommer att det saknas forskning på direkt diskriminering på grund av religion, könsidentitet, ålder eller funktionsnedsättning. Även adresseffekter måste anses vara ett outforskat område i Sverige.

I artikeln diskuteras de fackliga a-kassornas betydelse för den internationellt mycket höga fackliga organisationsgraden i Sverige. Kopplingen mellan fackföreningar och statsstödda a-kassor, det s k Ghent-systemet, tenderar emellertid undermineras av den sedan 1980-talet stigande direktanslutningen till a-kassorna. Vidare diskuteras möjliga konsekvenser av den obligatoriska arbetslöshetsförsäkring som alliansen avser införa.

This paper explores whether gender-based commuting gaps change in Sweden in times when policies at various levels seek to promote both spatially extended labour markets and gender equality. We use Swedish national travel survey data from 1994–1995 and 2005–2006 to explore inequality in terms of distance, time use, speed, and car use. Special attention is paid to the urban regions of Malmö and Göteborg, as they display large and diverging changes over time. Results indicate that both women and men in Sweden increased daily commuting distance over the period, and that the gender gap slightly decreased. Both women and men spent more time commuting than using faster transport systems to extend their labour market access. Women still commute by slower means of transport than do men, and this did not change substantially. At the regional level, average commuting distances for women and men converged in the Malmö region, in contrast to increased divergence in the Göteborg region. Convergence in Malmö was mainly associated with women extending their daily travel, while divergence in Göteborg depended on men extending theirs. Changed access to cars does not seem to be the main explanation of the observed difference in commuting distance between women and men in the two regions indicating that gender-related changes are largely contingent on region-specific factors. Cet article explore les différences hommes/femmes dans leurs navettes domicile-travail en Suède alors que différentes politiques avaient été mises en place pour promouvoir à la fois un marché du travail spatialement plus étendu et l’égalité des sexes. Pour cela, nous avons d’une part utilisé les statistiques nationales suédoises sur le transport datant de 1994-1995 et de 2005-2006 et d’autre part étudié les différentes inégalités avec un intérêt particulier donné à la distance, la vitesse, le temps et l’utilisation de la voiture. Une attention particulière a été portée à deux régions urbaines, celles de Malmö et Göteborg, parce qu’on peut y voir d’importants changements durant cette période. Les résultats nous montrent que les distances parcourues dans le cadre des navettes domicile-travail ont généralement augmenté. Les résultats nous montrent aussi que les différences entre les sexes ont aussi légèrement diminuées durant la période étudiée. Les hommes et les femmes utilisent plus et passent plus de temps dans des moyens de transports rapides dans le but d’étendre spatialement leurs possibilités d’emploi. Cependant, les femmes continuent d’utiliser des moyens de transport pour leur migration du travail plus lents que ceux utilisés par les hommes. Les résultats de notre étude nous montrent que cela n´a pas beaucoup changé. Au niveau des régions urbaines de Malmö et de Göteborg, on peut voir deux dynamiques différentes. Dans la région de Malmö, les différences s’amenuisent : les femmes ont étendu leurs navettes domicile-travail. Tandis qu’à Göteborg, les différences s’accroissent de plus en plus : ce sont les hommes qui ont étendu leurs migrations. Dans ces phénomènes, la voiture ne semble pas avoir été un facteur influant sur les différences migratoires entre les sexes ce qui nous montrent que celles-ci sont plutôt dépendantes des situations inhérentes à chaque région. Kvinnor och män har olika geografisk tillgång till arbetsmarknaden. Det kommer till uttryck i att män genomgående har bättre transportmöjligheter och reser betydligt längre till arbetet än vad kvinnor gör. En viktig fråga är vad som händer med dessa skillnader över tid, särskilt när man politiskt eftersträvar att stimulera såväl geografiskt utvidgade arbetsmarknader (s.k. regionförstoring) som en ökad jämställdhet mellan könen. Vi använder data från de nationella resvaneundersökningarna 1994-1995 och 2005-2006 för att analysera om utvecklingen går mot ökad jämlikhet i fråga om arbetspendling och regionförstoring. Särskild uppmärksamhet riktas mot regionala skillnader: i detta fall Göteborgs- och Malmöregionen som initialt uppvisar stora skillnader. Resultaten visar att de könsmässiga skillnaderna minskade något i Sverige som helhet under perioden samtidigt som både kvinnor och män reste allt längre till jobbet. Regionförstoringen förknippas till stor del med att både kvinnor och män avsätter mer tid till att resa – snarare än att resa snabbare. Kvinnor använder långsammare färdmedel än män; ett förhållande som inte förändrats under perioden. Den regionala analysen visar att skillnaderna i reslängd minskade helt i Malmöregionen (konvergens) medan skillnader tilltog i Göteborgsregionen (divergens). Konvergensen i Malmöregionen förknippas huvudsakligen med att kvinnor ökade sina reslängder, medan divergensen i Göteborgsregionen hänger samman med att män tänjde ut sitt resande. Förändringar i bilinnehav förklarar inte de skilda utvecklingsförloppen.