Passion and Exploitation Among Young Adults with Different Labor Market Status in Europe

Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe and analyze the relationship between attitudes to work, wellbeing, and labor market status among young adults in Europe and to discuss the extent to which the relationship can be understood in terms of passion or exploitation. This aim is made concrete in the following research questions: To what extent do young adults in Europe have a passionate attitude to work? Are there differences between groups with various labor market status and nationalities? Are there differences in levels of well-being between the groups of young adults with different labor market status, and differences between the countries? The results are based on an individual survey conducted with three categories of young people (18–34 years old): long-term unemployed, those in precarious employments, and those regularly employed. The study had a cross-national comparative design and the countries included were France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland.