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– Everyday life is not how it used to be. Now life is about survival, says Marcus Piippo (24).
Six months ago, he and his partner Henriette Espmarker (24) lived together in a rented apartment in Jessheim. Future plans were clear.
– In a five-year perspective, we imagine traveling a lot. Also, we wanted to buy a car and get married.
Before the crown crisis, the couple realized a dream when they bought an 80-square-meter apartment on a construction site in Nannestad in Romerike.
The house is ready to be occupied next year, but now everything feels unsafe.
PROUD: Henriette Espmarker and Marcus Piippo are delighted to have purchased the home, which will be completed next year. They had not imagined losing their jobs and feeling the insecurity they are experiencing now. Photo: Kenneth Fossheim / TV 2
The reason is that both are very affected by the crisis of the crown.
Six months ago, he worked at the security checkpoint at Oslo airport. He was a substitute at a pest control company, but was about to get a permanent job, he says.
Now she is fired, while he is fired.
Half a year of measurements
Saturday, September 12, marked half a year since the government introduced the most intrusive measures Norway has ever had in peacetime.
431,100 Norwegians registered as job applicants with NAV after the crown crisis began. There are more people living in Bergen and Stavanger together. Today, the total unemployment rate is 208,100, according to NAV.
In April, TV 2 Nyheterene took a closer look at the group that was laid off or lost their income as a result of the crown crisis.
2,100 people responded to our survey.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE: In half a year, the lives of Marcus Piippo and Henriette Espmarker have taken an unexpected turn. Photo: Kenneth Fossheim / TV 2
Now we have asked the same people new questions. 1700 have black.
The responses show that one in three has not yet returned to work as before the measures were introduced.
– What we know before about the group that ends out of working life is that time becomes the enemy. The more time people spend without work and with something meaningful to do, the more they become discouraged and the worse your CV gets. This makes it more difficult for them to return to working life, says chief economist Øystein Dørum at NHO.
Uncertain about future employment
The survey shows that those who have not yet returned to work are more pessimistic now than they were in April.
Twenty percent of those who are still laid off or have reduced earnings as a result of the corona pandemic respond that they do not believe they will be back to work in six months. 44 percent answer “I don’t know.”
– Households represent an important part of the demand in the economy, and higher unemployment means lower family income, lower demand and less activity. And in that sense, there are fewer jobs in other parts of the economy too, says Øystein Dørum.
– What do your estimates show?
– We imagine that unemployment will be higher than normal for at least the next two or three years.
IT CAN LAST A LONG TIME: Chief Economist Øystein Dørum believes it will take time before the situation normalizes. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB Scanpix
– So this can last a long time?
– This seems to take a long time, yes.
In the period from April 8 to 16, 2020, TV 2 Nyheten asked people who had been financially affected by the corona pandemic to respond to a survey. A total of 2,126 people stated that they had been laid off, laid off, or had lost more than 50 percent of their income.
On August 25, 2020, these individuals were asked to respond to a new survey. All responses are submitted through the online form. 1723 has black. This represents a response rate of 81. Responses were obtained in the period from August 25 to September 2, 2020.
All figures in this article are based on the responses of those who responded to both surveys. This applies to the tables in which we display the responses for April and September. Therefore, the April figures may have slight discrepancies compared to the figures given in previous articles on tv2.no.
The sample was recruited through a web form distributed through the website and social networks of TV 2. All those who responded were identified with a bank identification or other electronic identification. All data is processed anonymously. TV 2 collaborates with the University of Oslo on a secure solution for collecting and storing confidential data.
The TV 2 sample is made up of 60.7% women and 39.3% men. Therefore, there is a higher proportion of women in the TV 2 sample than in the NAV labor market statistics. Most of the people in the sample report having worked in industries, service professions and other jobs (27%), commercial and sales jobs (21%), and tourism and transportation (16%).
Compared to NAV’s labor market statistics, Oslo is under-represented in the sample. The TV 2 quiz is only distributed in Norwegian. Therefore, there is reason to believe that people with minority backgrounds are underrepresented.
Life on hold
For the couple Marcus and Henriette, the solution was to move to their parents’ house in Nannestad.
Although the costs have been lower in this way, they note that the economy is tighter and that it is demanding when several adults live under the same roof.
– We lose the opportunity to live for ourselves and live the life we used to do, says Marcus.
They experience that “life pauses” while they are out of work and without regular salary income, but at the same time they have a strong understanding that measures were necessary to limit the spread of the infection.
NEW HOME: Henriette Espmarker and Marcus Piippo off the construction site, which for years to come will be their new home. Photo: Kenneth Fossheim / TV 2
– But it has a consequence, and we seem to have a hard time. As if the years passed, says Henriette.
Just a few hundred meters from his parents’ house, the house they have bought and which they plan to move to next year is being built.
“I’m really looking forward to it, but I can’t wait if nothing happens in our working life,” he says.
