Long-term social restrictions and lack of work activities during the COVID-19 pandemic:Impact on the daily lives of people with intellectual disabilities

Purpose:  Lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic may have had a disproportionate impact on the daily lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Many of them had to deal with limited social contacts for an extended period. This study explores in depth how people with intellectual disabilities in the Netherlands experienced their daily lives, in particular due to lack of access to regular work activities.  Materials and methods:  Eight participants with intellectual disabilities were interviewed. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was employed in conducting and analysing interviews.  Results and conclusions:  Analysis yielded three overarching themes that are conceptually linked. Participants experienced a prolonged lack of social connections that resulted in experiences of social isolation and feelings of loneliness. This led to different kinds of struggles: either internal struggles involving negative thoughts or depressive feelings, or a perceived threat to their autonomous position in society. Meanwhile participants had to sustain their sense of self-worth in the absence of work activities. The findings emphasise the importance of social opportunities through the access to work activities for people with intellectual disabilities. Interventions are suggested to help reverse the increased social inequalities and enhance rehabilitation via work activities for people with intellectual disabilities. Implications for rehabilitation: More awareness may be raised among authorities, employers and the general public about the significant value people with intellectual disabilities attribute to meaningful social connections, in particular through work activities. Also, more awareness may be raised about the potential adverse effects of the loss of work activities and social connections on the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities. Providing social support to others may help people with intellectual disabilities to construct social valued roles, either in or outside the work situation. Professionals and employers can support people with intellectual disabilities to find opportunities to provide social support to others. It is important to invest in sustainable and innovative post-pandemic community participation initiatives and particularly in accessible post-pandemic employment support, for example by organising paid in-company training placements. It is essential that professionals support people with intellectual disabilities to enhance their sources of resilience and coping strategies, that may have diminished as a result of the pandemic

Living on the edge: precariousness and why it matters for health

The post-war period in Europe, between the late 1940s and the 1970s, was characterised by an expansion of the role of by the state, protecting its citizens from risks of unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity. This security began to erode in the 1980s as a result of privatisation and deregulation. The withdrawal of the state further accelerated after the 2008 financial crisis, as countries began pursuing deep austerity. The result has been a rise in what has been termed ‘precariousness’. Here we review the development of the concept of precariousness and related phenomena of vulnerability and resilience, before reviewing evidence of growing precariousness in European countries. It describes a series of studies of the impact on precariousness on health in domains of employment, housing, and food, as well as natural experiments of policies that either alleviate or worsen these impacts. It concludes with a warning, drawn from the history of the 1930s, of the political consequences of increasing precariousness in Europe and North America

Non-standard employment relations and wages among school-leavers in the Netherlands

Contains fulltext : 55712.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Non-standard (alternatively, flexible) employment has become common in the Netherlands, and viewed as an important weapon for combating youth unemployment. However, if such jobs are 'bad', non-standard employment becomes a matter of concern. In addition, non-standard employment may hit the least qualified, excluding them from the primary segment of the labour market, where 'good' jobs are found. We first examine whether less-educated school leavers more often end up in a job with a non-standard employment contract than the higher educated. Then, we investigate the effect of having a non-standard employment contract on job advantages in terms of wages. The data come from three large-scale Dutch school leaver surveys as held in 2001. The results show: (a) less-educated school leavers indeed are more likely to have a non-standard contract than more highly educated ones, while (b) those in non-standard employment earn less in their jobs. A substantial part of these differences can be ascribed to the segment of the labour market in which school leavers work.23 p

Company-level family policies: Who has access to it and what are some of its outcomes

Despite the increase in number of studies that examine the cross-national variation in the policy configuration that allow a better work-family integration, very few look beyond the national levels. It is also crucial to examine occupational level welfare since companies may restrict or expand the existing national level regulations, defining the “final availability” workers actual have towards various arrangements. In addition, companies may provide various additional arrangements through occupational policies which are not set out in the national level agreements that are crucial in addressing reconciliation needs of workers. This chapter examines what types of arrangements are provided at the company level to address work-family demands of workers. It further provides a synthesis of studies that examine both national level contexts and individual level characteristics that explain who gets access to company level family-friendly policies, which is linked to the possible outcomes of these policies