ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the spread of precarious work in the Danish labour market for graduates. It shows that even in well-regulated Nordic labour market systems, rooted in traditions of strong welfare states, precarity exists and seems to be spreading. The tendency is linked to broader international labour market changes that characterize modern Western societies and subsequently reframe working life as experienced by individual workers. This challenges trade unions in their efforts to ensure decent work and pay conditions for their members. The insights presented in this chapter are based on two qualitative research projects initiated in cooperation with a trade union for graduates. The analysis aims to explore how precarity shapes graduates’ working life from a variety of subjective perspectives. Themes chosen from our empirical study reveal how precarity affects Meaning of work, Participation in the workplace and Precarity in a broader life perspective. The chapter ends with a discussion about how the spread of precarity can be addressed in the context of the Nordic labour market models, based on high levels of regulation, strong labour market cooperation between the social parties and welfare systems based on ideals of social rights, equal opportunities and labour market inclusion.
