Unemployment persistency, over-education and the employment chances of the less educated

The research question addressed in this article concerns whether unemployment persistency can be regarded as a phenomenon that increases employment difficulties for the less educated and, if so, whether their employment chances are reduced by an overly rapid reduction in the number of jobs with low educational requirements. The empirical case is Sweden and the data covers the period 1976-2000. The empirical analyses point towards a negative response to both questions. First, it is shown that jobs with low educational requirements have declined but still constitute a substantial share of all jobs. Secondly, educational attainment has changed at a faster rate than the job structure with increasing over-education in jobs with low educational requirements as a result. This, together with changed selection patterns into the low education group, are the main reasons for the poor employment chances of the less educated in periods with low general demand for labour.