The Relationship to Work: Highlighting the Agency of Youth in Vulnerable Situations in Quebec and France
Work plays an important role in the lives of both societies and individuals. It serves as both a means for social integration and a source of identity, notwithstanding historical contexts marked by precarious employment. Whereas much international research and many comparative studies have addressed young people’s relationship to work, the existing literature tends to paint a rather uniform picture of youth. This article begins with a focus on the unique aspects of the relationship to work among vulnerable youth, which leads to an exploration of the processes by which these individuals develop agency. Coupled with inductive qualitative analysis, the systematic international perspective provided by interviews conducted with vulnerable youth (dropouts, immigrants, Indigenous persons, rural residents, and overqualified individuals) in Quebec and France shows that labour market participation not only remains important to these youth but constitutes a hub around which their lives acquire structure and meaning. They experience inactivity very negatively and express strong criticism of social assistance. Although vulnerable youth are acutely affected by material insecurity and often cite the desire to earn money as a reason for working, financial considerations remain complex by involving a variety of dimensions. Finally, despite the hardships they experience, young people tend to describe the labour market in pragmatic and optimistic terms.