Change and stability in work commitment in Norway: From adolescence to adulthood

The individual's commitment to work has occupied a central place in much welfare state research. This centrality relates to beliefs that welfare system design influences the ways in which people come to value employment. If, as believed, generous benefit systems diminish citizens' willingness to work, then these systems undermine both the legitimacy and the performance of the welfare state. This article explores change and stability in work commitment in a Norwegian cohort born between 1965 and 1968. We investigate whether and if so how individuals' experience with the welfare system and their personal, family or work experiences influenced their level of work commitment between 1993 and 2003, from adolescence to adulthood. Findings show work commitment as relatively stable across the ten years, with some individual-level change relative to changes in family life (such as becoming a parent) and in work experience (such as long-term unemployment). Results indicate that the fear of disincentive effects on individuals' work commitment is exaggerated.