Affordances of Welfare Services – Perspectives of Young Clients

Abstract

Abstract In Nordic welfare states, the indications of the social exclusion of young adults are addressed with measures and services aimed at getting them back on the «right» track. In this paper we aim to emphasize young adults’ own viewpoints on their relationship to the services, which we consider vital for the development of the service system in a more empowering and inclusive direction. To this end, we apply the concept of affordance to explore how 18- to 29-year-old NEETs perceive what the service environment can offer and provide for them in order to get by and to advance in life. Drawing upon interview data, we claim that while the welfare services can afford young adults the opportunity to find a job, for example, there are other affordances that remain unarticulated but that may be significant from the young adult’s point of view. Our analysis identifies four types of affordances – beneficial, pressurizing, false, and hidden. We conclude that the affordance perspective is one way to go beyond the deficit-oriented perspective often ascribed to young clients of the welfare services; it shifts the evaluative focus away from young adults towards the service system, identifying both the enabling and the less explicit aspects.

Keywords

• affordance
• marginality
• young adults
• welfare services
• youngadults
• welfareservices