New report on the effects of projects financed by the European Social Fund
The European Social Fund (ESF) aims to be more successful in helping people to get a job than Arbetsförmedlingen. The Institute for Futures Studies has studied the results of a variety of projects and describes the findings in the report Searching for successful integration. An assessment of projects which aim to help young adults and immigrants to find employment.
The report shows that the projects financed by the ESF during the period 2007-2013, are more successful than projects funded by the Employment Service – but only in the short term, and only in comparison to some of the Employment Service programs.
The results were discussed at a breakfast seminar on February 21st with Malin Blomgren from Arbetsförmedlingen, Marianne Öberg Håkansson from the Swedidsh ESF Council and Åsa Olli Segendorf, researcher at the Ministry of Finance.
– We need to remember that we are talking about matching job seekers to the labor market, and the question is how big the difference really is between the projects of ESF and Arbetsförmedlingen, said Malin Blomgren, as a way to explain the disappointing results.
– The work of ESF is much more complex than this report indicates, said Marianne Öberg Håkansson, and referred to ESF's mission to help people getting closer to the labor market. Is that possible to measure at all?
A large part of the discussion came to be about the possibilities to find best practices using scientific methods. The recommendation made in the report is random allocation of participants to the projects and an experimental approach.
– A more structured approach could really help ESF, said Åsa Olli Segendorf.
Malin Blomgren also noted that both the report and the discussion with ESF on the ability for the projects to engage in innovative activities are useful as input to the discussion on how to properly design the ESF program for the next period.
The report represents the first part of a research project run by the Thematic Group on Inclusion in Working Life, run by the Institute for Futures Studies.
Read an extended summary of the report in english
Order the report in printed version (swedish) by mailing your address to [email protected]
