Young Adults’ Mental Health and Early Working Lives

Watch the webinar

About the webinar

In this webinar, Professor Ute Bültmann, Dr. Karin Veldman and Dr. Iris Arends from the University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, the Netherlands will present the first results of the project “Today’s youth is tomorrow’s workforce – Generation Y at work”, funded by the Dutch Research Council.  

Young adults have to earn a living in a new world of work characterized by temporary employment, self-employment and a 24/7 work cycle in a global economy. At the same time, young adults, as they enter working life, experience other major life transitions that are embedded in changing social contexts. These transitions – completing school, leaving home, entering the workforce, getting married and having children – are affected by earlier life experiences, such as childhood adversities and prior mental health, that in turn may affect future mental health and later life labor market and work outcomes.

A life course perspective on young adults’ working lives highlights the importance of prior life experiences such as where individuals grew up, who they grew up with, and their education and health status prior to working. Our project addresses questions like: “Does the timing and duration of early life mental health problems affect the working life of young adults”? “What are the main work-family trajectories of today’s young adults”? and “How do young adults’ today experience and value work”? Our findings on young adults’ mental health and early working lives can help guide policy and practice interventions and stimulate debate on this important life phase. 

Webinar outline

The webinar will take place at 10-12 am CET (Central European Time).

After a short introduction of the project background and life course principles, Ute will present the key findings on early life mental health problems and labor market participation and work functioning of young adults in the Netherlands. Karin will share findings on early working life trajectories and work-family trajectories, build over a 10-year period, and the employment and health characteristics of the young adults.

Iris will present qualitative research findings on the experiences, needs and values of young adults in the world of work anno 2020. We will discuss implications for policy and practice and open a dialogue for future themes to facilitate healthy working lives of young adults.

About the lecturers

Ute Bültmann is Professor of Work and Health in the Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine at the University Medical Center Groningen at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

Ute’s research interests include the epidemiology of work and health and the measurement of health-related functioning at work. Her current research activities focus on adding a life course perspective to work and mental health research, and on translating findings into relevant policy and practice measures to make a difference in achieving healthy working lives. She is a 2016 Vici laureate of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for her research on “Today’s youth is tomorrow’s workforce: Generation Y at work”. The award supports her research team to examine mental health and work challenges with a life course lens to support young workers transitioning into work and to facilitate a healthy working life.

Dr. Karin Veldman is a senior researcher at the Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine at the University Medical Center Groningen at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Karin’s research interests include the impact of early life mental health problems on the working lives of young adults, in particular on those young adults in NEET (Neither in Education, Employment or Training).

Dr. Iris Arends is a senior researcher at the Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine at the University Medical Center Groningen at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. She combines her research with work as a program manager of Research Development and Implementation at ArboUnie, a large occupational health service in the Netherlands.

Iris has over 10 years of research experience within the field of Work & Mental Health and has conducted policy analyses in this area for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). She aims to develop holistic interventions and policies for mental health at work. This includes examining the roles of multiple stakeholders at work (e.g., the worker him/herself, supervisors, HR, colleagues) at home (e.g., partner, children) and in the broader context (e.g., GPs, psychologists). Furthermore, she adopts a life course perspective that takes into account how early life experiences affect later life work and mental health.

Contact person

In practical matters, please contact:

Project Manager & Quality Assurance Advisor
Cecilia Weckman
NIVA
email: cecilia.weckman@niva.org