Marginalisation is the leading concept in this study. The main research question addresses the degree to which labour market position correlates with other social circumstances in the lives of young people.

Different aspects of marginalisation in relation to youth unemployment are highlighted and analysed in the study. The following dimensions of marginalisation and integration were chosen:

• • employment;

• • family situation;

• • living conditions;

• • social network;

• • politics and society;

• • education.

The study is cross-sectional. At one point, a group of young people, who had been at least three months continuously unemployed during the first half of the year, was selected as a sample. Thus, the authors chose to study a group that, according to marginalisation theories, had a problematic relationship with one central area: employment. The crucial question, then, concerns the extent to which this position is interpreted as problematic in relation to other domains. To what extent does labour market position covary with access to other resources and with the individual capacities of the young people involved?

The research design can be illustrated as follows:

At the time of the samples being drawn, all of the young people in the study were unemployed. Approximately six to 12 months later, when they were interviewed, the situation had changed. What factors could have influenced this outcome? A certain number of variables problematic to this relationship were chosen, as follows:

• • social support;

• • work experience and education;

• • unemployment experiences;

• • financial situation;

• • health situation;

• • experiences of labour market schemes;

• • political attitudes.

From an analytical perspective, however, it is not evident how these variables should be regarded. Do they reflect circumstances that can be influenced by an outcome, or are they more permanently structured? To deal with the time dimension, different time perspectives were included in the questions, under the assumption that certain variables are stable enough to be regarded as having the capacity to influence employment outcome.

This research strategy was chosen in order to shed light on the ways in which different degrees of marginalisation, or, to be more specific, different levels of integration into the labour market, may be related to other circumstances in the lives of the young people in our study. The aim was also to be able to form an opinion on the processes of marginalisation in terms of the relationship between the outcome of unemployment and differences in the life situations of young people.