JU researchers part of new research project on the challenges of working life

Researchers Johannes Hagen and Andrea Schneider at Jönköping University (JU) are part of a research programme that recently received almost SEK 24 million from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte). The programme aims to create new and policy-relevant knowledge about how the design of social insurance systems affects people's lives and society at large. The goal is to contribute to a working life that is sustainable, inclusive, and promotes health.

The project "A broadened analysis of the importance of the welfare system for a sustainable working life" will run for six years and is led by Associate Professor Lisa Laun, active at the Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU). It involves 16 researchers in economics and political science from Uppsala University, IFAU, Stockholm University and Jönköping University.

“It feels great to receive such a large grant for an important research area. I look forward to working together with the other researchers in the project and broadening both my own and JU's network,” says Johannes Hagen.

What makes the programme unique is that it broadens earlier research on social insurance systems by covering not only outcomes related to employment, but also working conditions, poverty, health, and well-being. This applies not only to the individuals themselves, but also to family members and society at large. In addition, it is stressed that the level of income security and the driving forces of individuals are increasingly influenced by their access to the complementary pillars of the insurance system. For people born abroad, other countries’ coordination of social security with Sweden also has an impact, which will also be studied more closely.

14 different research programs

The programme consists of a total of 14 research projects analysing income insurance in the event of sickness, unemployment, and retirement. Johannes Hagen and Andrea Schneider, who are both researchers at Jönköping International Business School at Jönköping University, are responsible for the part of the project that focuses on complementary occupational pensions.

“The purpose of our part is to investigate the role of people’s occupational pension when it comes to deciding when and how they retire. Our established collaboration with the web service ‘minPension’ gives us fantastic opportunities to map people's total pension assets and what decisions they make,” says Johannes Hagen.

Kontakt