Dropout and early unemployment

Dropout from school and early unemployment represents increasing challenges in Western countries. In an effort to understand more about why young people in Norway drop out, we interviewed five men and five women aged 19–28. All participated in a national work-training program. The qualitative analysis revealed that most of the participants had experiences of abandonment, expressed academic amotivation, felt socially awkward, socially excluded and were lonely. They expressed little concern with being dependent on social services. They had different explanations of why they had dropped out of school and working life. While they had various combinations of risk factors, they all shared the experience of not having stable supportive adults present during their childhood and adolescence.