Providing resources to vulnerable groups: complex individual problems meet fragmented local structures

The project´s overarching research question is to what extent different political and administrative structures in Swedish municipalities meet the needs of vulnerable groups with complex and cross-sectorial problems. This question has been largely overlooked, despite being vital for the distribution of resources to vulnerable groups.

More specifically, the purpose of the project is to analyze how political and administrative structures at the municipal level affect resource allocation to youth not in education, employment or training (NEET).

This is a group with multifaceted problems that is subject to great policy concern, and the Swedish government has transferred substantial responsibilities to municipalities. Empirically, the project applies a multi-method design where a quantitative part is combined with a qualitative.

The first part involves collection of survey data (online) in a selection of Swedish municipalities on local political and administrative structures, while the second part encompasses personal interviews with key actors in 6 to 8 municipalities giving us in-depth information on the roles and relationships between politicians and administrators as well as how knowledge regarding NEETs is distributed.

The data will be analysed using regression analysis (quantitative data) and qualitative comparative analysis (qualititave data).