This chapter addresses various central areas concerning unaccompanied minors – such as reception, accommodation, work, and health – and draws on the experiences of different countries. The survey is on the circumstances surrounding the unaccompanied minors and how various measures can influence and improve their conditions. The overview includes studies of the experiences of different countries documented in research. The results are grouped in two ways – after country of reception and the various stages of the events. In the case of the country of reception, attention is also paid to the unaccompanied minors who arrive for reasons other than seeking asylum.

In recent years, Sweden has been one of the largest receiving countries of unaccompanied minors, compared to other EU member states. Recent studies have increasingly stressed the strength, resilienceand agency of unaccompanied minors, despite the traumatic experiences and challenges they face. In this article, we study unaccompanied minors in the Swedish education system and the labour market using register-based data covering the period 2003–2014. We compare this group with accompanied minors and persons of the same age born in Sweden to investigate the mechanisms that facilitate and/or hinder their labour market well-being. We find that unaccompanied minors have problems in completing secondary school but do well in the labour market with regard to finding employment. Our results draw attention to the multifaceted processes that facilitate and/or hinder their labour market well-being.

Hur går det för ensamkommande barn och unga att utbilda sig och etablera sig på den svenska arbetsmarknaden? Den frågan försöker vi besvara med hjälp av registerdata för dem som fick uppehållstillstånd i Sverige 2003–2014. Vi undersöker hur olika faktorer som ålder vid uppehållstillstånd, ursprungsland, tid i Sverige, utbildning, och bostadslän, påverkar etableringen. Andra aspekter vi studerar är ensamkommandes hälsa och civilstånd. I analysen jämför vi både med unga som har invandrat till Sverige med sina föräldrar från samma länder och med unga födda i Sverige med svenskfödda föräldrar.

This chapter investigates the labour market situation of Swedish native-born sons and daughters in immigrant and native families with regard to their parents’ education, as well as intergenerational educational mobility patterns for these families. The latter are compared in order to ascertain whether the roles played by institutions and family background vary across these two groups. Rather than focussing solely on father-son pairs, the chapter looks at all family combinations, including mothers and daughters and mixed couples. Since there can be differences across countries of origin for those families with an immigrant background, all country groups of interest are analysed separately. Transmission patterns are also investigated separately for different household types with regard to parental composition.