Peripheral labor market status and job quality in the Swedish labor market 1968-2010

This study examines long-term trends in labor market peripherality and its association with job quality in Sweden from 1968 to 2010. Using linked register data, labor market biographies, and the Swedish Level of Living Survey, we construct a multidimensional measure of peripheral labor market status—including temporary and part-time contracts, excessive job mobility, and unemployment spells. While contemporary labor market theories suggest increasing segmentation and declining job quality for peripheral workers, our findings provide only modest support for this view. Associations between peripheral status and poor job quality — particularly in terms of work autonomy and physical hazards — are generally weak and largely accounted for by prior job conditions. Evidence for increasing divergence over time is limited, suggesting that labor market polarization in terms of job conditions along contractual divides may be less pronounced than often assumed.