Is it all about the money?

This article is about meetings between frontline workers in the Norwegian labour and welfare administration (NAV), and young people outside work or school - NEETs. This group often has few or no financial rights beyond financial social assistance, which is granted from the social services in NAV. O...

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Main Authors: Michaela Nilsen, Heidi Moen Gjersøe, Lise Cecilie Kleppe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Stavanger 2025-02-01
Series:Journal of Comparative Social Work
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uis.no/index.php/JCSW/article/view/696
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author Michaela Nilsen
Heidi Moen Gjersøe
Lise Cecilie Kleppe
author_facet Michaela Nilsen
Heidi Moen Gjersøe
Lise Cecilie Kleppe
author_sort Michaela Nilsen
collection DOAJ
description This article is about meetings between frontline workers in the Norwegian labour and welfare administration (NAV), and young people outside work or school - NEETs. This group often has few or no financial rights beyond financial social assistance, which is granted from the social services in NAV. One of NAV's intentions is to ensure a work-oriented focus and comprehensive follow-up across various benefits. Based on a qualitative study in five NAV offices, the article investigates how organizational measures, in this case the specialization of work tasks, which seeks to put work-oriented aspects in the foreground of service provision, and separate it from traditional casework on benefit decisions.   The study consists of 14 observations of conversations between frontline workers and young social assistance recipients. Additionally, five focus group interviews were conducted with the frontline workers. The findings suggest that the frontline workers' follow-up appears fragmented, so that these young people can end up with up to three frontline workers at the same time, who are respectively responsible for finances, work and follow-up.  This specialization can have implications for the quality of the service provision, and it seems that the nature and dynamics of social problems are not taken into account.
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series Journal of Comparative Social Work
spelling doaj-art-0d16711fff274998a75bcb2030e45c112025-08-20T02:55:09ZengUniversity of StavangerJournal of Comparative Social Work0809-99362025-02-0119210.31265/jcsw.v19i2.696 Is it all about the money?Michaela Nilsenhttps://orcid.org/0009-0002-2766-6083Heidi Moen Gjersøehttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0354-7100Lise Cecilie Kleppehttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-1984-6300 This article is about meetings between frontline workers in the Norwegian labour and welfare administration (NAV), and young people outside work or school - NEETs. This group often has few or no financial rights beyond financial social assistance, which is granted from the social services in NAV. One of NAV's intentions is to ensure a work-oriented focus and comprehensive follow-up across various benefits. Based on a qualitative study in five NAV offices, the article investigates how organizational measures, in this case the specialization of work tasks, which seeks to put work-oriented aspects in the foreground of service provision, and separate it from traditional casework on benefit decisions.   The study consists of 14 observations of conversations between frontline workers and young social assistance recipients. Additionally, five focus group interviews were conducted with the frontline workers. The findings suggest that the frontline workers' follow-up appears fragmented, so that these young people can end up with up to three frontline workers at the same time, who are respectively responsible for finances, work and follow-up.  This specialization can have implications for the quality of the service provision, and it seems that the nature and dynamics of social problems are not taken into account. https://journals.uis.no/index.php/JCSW/article/view/696Social assistanceFrontline workNEETsclient-oriented workSocial WorkNorwegian Labour and Welfare Administration
spellingShingle Michaela Nilsen
Heidi Moen Gjersøe
Lise Cecilie Kleppe
Is it all about the money?
Journal of Comparative Social Work
Social assistance
Frontline work
NEETs
client-oriented work
Social Work
Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration
title Is it all about the money?
title_full Is it all about the money?
title_fullStr Is it all about the money?
title_full_unstemmed Is it all about the money?
title_short Is it all about the money?
title_sort is it all about the money
topic Social assistance
Frontline work
NEETs
client-oriented work
Social Work
Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration
url https://journals.uis.no/index.php/JCSW/article/view/696
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