A life marked by early school leaving: gendered working life paths linked to health and

Meaning construction of the decision to leave school

The nine participants who dropped out of compulsory schooling reflected on their dropping out differently over time as they constructed meaning from their experiences. When younger and recently out of school, some simply stated that they were “bored” or that school was just not a good fit. Others described challenges in school, including learning difficulties, peer bullying, lack of teacher support and motivation, or a desire for independence. In addition, many participants cited stressful family situations, such as parental mental health issues, alcohol misuse, violence, fractured family ties and loss of family members. It is plausible that such family challenges might have affected their ability to focus on schoolwork. Only in later interviews did some participants begin to see the links between family adversity, school challenges and their decision to drop out. They questioned why their basic needs were not recognised in school and why teachers were not more supportive, especially considering their teachers’ awareness of their family situations. However, most still blamed themselves for lacking the motivation to complete school, viewing their dropout as a personal failure.

The point of departure for all the participants: an unhealthy gendered working life in youth due to NEET status

A shared starting point and three distinct working life paths emerged from the life stories. Initially, all the participants expressed relief at having left school, but they soon faced precarious and unhealthy conditions marked by prolonged or recurring unemployment. Their working lives then developed along three gendered paths (see Table 1). Early on, all the life stories depicted a financially strained, monotonous life, which the participants related to somatic symptoms and mood changes. Participants highlighted their struggles to secure and manage jobs in physically and emotionally demanding, sometimes risky, gendered environments. They normalised these situations as typical for their age, viewing precarious jobs as stepping stones to future opportunities. However, they critically reflected on their vulnerability and their excessive individual responsibility to improve their circumstances without sufficient external support.

The struggle to cope with unemployment in youth

Before turning 18, participants experienced regular periods of unemployment while actively seeking jobs. Their narratives fluctuated between hope for employment and feelings of powerlessness and resignation. Most were financially dependent on their parents, many of whom, as previous research shows, also struggled due to low levels of education and low-paid jobs [22]. Unemployment affected their social lives, limiting possible activities and increasing their loneliness. They described loss of structure and meaning in everyday life. This monotony fuelled the participants’ desire for independence and a personal income. For instance, Sanna began skipping school in eighth grade due to low motivation and lack of teacher support. She eventually dropped out and became pregnant at a young age. By 18, prolonged unemployment was taking a toll on her mental health, exacerbated by the recent loss of her father. Despite attending short traineeships, she struggled to envisage a future.

You sit there and stare at the wall and try to find something [to do] to make time pass, until it’s night and time to go to bed. You don’t get anything done either. I don’t do much when I’m unemployed. I don’t care about anything. I just smoke one cigarette after another. You think: “Shit, if this is it, it might as well be over”.

Similarly, Jenny dropped out of school because she felt tired of it. At 17, she described feeling bored during periods of unemployment, spending her time sleeping, walking her dogs, reading and watching TV. Carola left school because she didn’t feel it was for her and preferred practical work. During unemployment, she cared for her siblings’ children and participated in short traineeships. Lotta left school in ninth grade and later attended a household management course but left because she wasn’t interested in it. She eventually moved out at 16 to live with her boyfriend in a remote cottage, spending her days alone while he worked.

It was terrible and I felt really bad. You tried to sleep as long as possible in the mornings, so that the day would pass faster. You couldn’t go anywhere and there was nothing to do. I used to call my mum to talk, but she got tired of me.

Lotta expressed feeling “like an idiot” and “useless” due to her unemployment. Siri, who experienced reading and writing difficulties, severe bullying and physical violence in school, wanted to leave “as soon as possible”. At 16, she complained about recurring stomach pain due to worries about the future.

It’s probably because I’m nervous and restless… I get nervous about the future and think: “Should I sit like this… won’t I get a job? Will I have to wait years and days until I get a job?” Sometimes I don’t think about it at all… I just think about having fun… going out with friends and enjoying life like that… When I think about it, I get depressed and think: “Am I going to be like the A-team [alcoholics] in town? What will I become?” You don’t know what to do… it’s so difficult because you can’t decide what to do in life.

Siri’s reflection highlights the common challenge of figuring out one’s path in youth and finding motivation. Like many other girls in her situation, she experienced various bodily symptoms such as distress, headaches, joint pain, heart palpitations and sleep issues. Limited in options, Siri, like others, sought jobs through the Introductory Programme and spent time with friends, often involving alcohol. Petra left school due to conflicts with teachers, feeling discriminated against and harassed. Unemployment weighed heavily on her, and she observed the aimlessness shared by many unemployed youths: “Teenagers sit in the park and chug beer. They’ve got nothing to do and, in the end, it doesn’t matter what you do”.

The unemployed young women in the study described how they used to take care of dogs and children for family and friends, sometimes in the company of an unemployed friend; several of them became mothers at a young age with older partners. On the other hand, the young men often spent time snowmobiling, fishing or working on cars with unemployed friends, and entered parenthood later in life. Thus, gendered romantic relations and related gendered living conditions were shaped at an early age, with women acting as the main caregivers [23]. Loneliness was a common theme in all the unemployment narratives, affecting participants’ outlook on life and was related to feelings of loss of meaning and low self-esteem.

The struggle to obtain employment

In line with unemployment benefit regulations, participants regularly visited their local employment agency from the age of 18 to apply for jobs, but faced strong competition from older, more experienced job seekers. Some managed to secure short job placements through local programmes, but these opportunities were limited and all the participants occasionally found themselves without work training. Given the high unemployment rate in the region, the agency commonly advised moving to larger cities in the south for better job prospects. This advice was emotionally challenging for the young teenagers. After leaving school due to unfair accusations of drug use, David briefly studied elsewhere but returned home, struggling with financial dependency and health issues. At 18, he engaged with the employment agency:

I’ve been to the [employment agency] and said that “Now you’ve got to find me a job!” But it doesn’t work, they just say “move!” all the time. “Nah” I say. I’ve been down looking for work in [a southern city] and [another southern city]. And it was probably nice, but moving there is another story. It’s so hard to start in a new place when you don’t know anything or anyone. Yes, it’s clear you’d miss home too… and my girlfriend isn’t too keen on moving like that.

David decided to stay in his hometown. He secured short traineeships through the youth opportunities programme but then became unemployed again, which led to worsening health problems and a “stressed heart”. He eventually considered returning to education, but his contact at the employment agency dissuaded him from doing so.

Sometimes I sit and think about friends that you see, or know a little bit, that they are almost 35 years old and have the same education as me and they are still unemployed. If it’s like that… hell no, I don’t want to be still unemployed when I’m 35… I told her at the [employment agency] that I was thinking about going to [municipal adult education] and everything, but no… she thinks it’s better that I move than start educating myself.

Siri recalled how she was given the same advice, to which her mother protested “Why should she move; she is only 16?! And where will she live?”. Fredrik could not leave home to seek work in other regions as he was the youngest child, responsible for caring for his aging and disabled parents. This is consistent with many other young carers’ life journeys, characterised by being tied to the childhood home environment in youth [24].

The struggle to manage precarious and gendered working conditions

Like others in precarious jobs, everyone valued having a job more than being unemployed, despite often describing poor working conditions [25]. Jimmy left school because he did not like being told what to do by the teachers. At 17, he expressed excitement about his new job as a lumberjack, relishing the opportunity to spend hours in the forest chopping down trees, even in challenging conditions with snow up his waist.

You get up around half past seven and then you work until… it depends on how long it takes, around nine, ten. That’ll be about 13 h a day. Well, it doesn’t have to be fun, I do it for work.

The young men entered physically strenuous jobs, in accordance with traditional masculine ideals. The jobs were informal, low-paid seasonal tasks for acquaintances obtained through personal connections, such as sawing wood and operating a tractor. Rickard was unable to pursue forestry studies as he had no driving licence due to a neurological disease. He also spent long hours chopping trees in the woods, working double shifts to save money for later periods of unemployment.

Both men and women in the study worked in physically demanding, low paid jobs. The young women more often began work in traditionally women-dominated jobs such as caregiving, cleaning or retail. This aligns with societal gendered norms, which expected women to take on caregiving and household responsibilities as part of a traditional, normative femininity [26]. This femininity contrasts with the ideal of hardworking masculinity, as seen in some of the men’s narratives where they adhere to the stereotype of working class young men who take any available job regardless of the hazards the tasks involve [23]. The young women shared their experiences of facing both gender and age discrimination. Sanna recounted instances where she was mistreated by employers and older colleagues. For instance, at a day care centre, she had to wear her own clothes while others had work attire, experienced unexplained reductions in her working hours and was assigned tasks others avoided. She also recalled feeling exploited at her job in a pet shop:

I liked it at first, but they were such bad colleagues… they were crazy. They didn’t think I did enough, although I struggled the whole day. They demanded too much of the young employees… all the things that we were expected to do. Unpacking goods for hours wasn’t fun. The youth employment centre wanted us to be trained to work the cash register, but no “we can’t let any of them stand at the checkout”. I had to clean out everything, and it wasn’t an ordinary bird cage but a room where they had bird breeding, so it was really dirty. The woman who had a permanent position complained about her back, so I had to drag all the shit upstairs, clean and vacuum like another dicky bird.

After a long period of unemployment Lotta eventually began to train as a welder, but she felt she was treated in a sexist way by the male employees: “Dirty old men sat there staring at you when you were welding. I burned myself all the time with welding fleas and got angry, and the old men kept looking, sniffing and were disgusting. So I quit”. Lotta recalled another incident during her time at a filling station when she fell ill with severe neck pain. Despite not requiring a medical certificate, her employer refused to give her sick leave. While both women and men faced tough working conditions, all the participants found that work renewed their sense of purpose and drive to navigate life, as precarious jobs were seen as potential stepping stones to advancement and more stable working conditions. Work contrasted with their negative experiences in school and of unemployment, which had negatively affected their self-esteem. However, precarious jobs have been likened to a trap, where the desire for advancement can ironically perpetuate poor working conditions and hinder progress towards more secure, fulfilling positions [27, 28].

During youth, the participants’ life stories were marked by diverse struggles: grappling with unemployment, searching for work and contending with precarious and unpleasant jobs. While they occasionally perceived themselves as victims of circumstances beyond their control, particularly during periods of unemployment that affected their health and well-being, their narratives also reflected active efforts to manage and improve their situations [29].

I. A precarious gendered working life with negative health implications

Four participants, Jimmy, Rickard, Lotta and Sanna, shared narratives reflecting their lifelong struggle with insecure employment. Over time, they experienced social problems, illness and deteriorating health. The gendered labour market challenges described above continued. In addition, they faced challenges with romantic relations as well as with physical limitations and health problems. These diverse struggles contributed to an overarching survival narrative, where they exercised agency to manage their vulnerability and stress. Jimmy and Rickard continued to work in masculine coded jobs with a high risk of accidents and a lack of insurance. In his 30s, Jimmy described how he had repeatedly injured himself in workplace accidents.

First, I was hit by a truck at the steel company. I passed out and spent three days in hospital. Then I hurt myself in my janitorial job at the sports club, hit my back and leg, and fractured my tailbone. I fell from the ceiling; I was setting up goal cages because we were going to put them away until spring. I was in a hurry and slipped. Luckily, I fell between long nails sticking out of the floor, otherwise it could have been a lot worse.

In his 40s, Jimmy summarised his working life so far as having been meaningful, because he had always enjoyed working hard and for his body to feel that he had done “a proper day’s work”. However, his work-related health problems had worsened, including multiple accidents with repeated head traumas, which he believed negatively influenced his memory and gave him chronic pain. He had now been approved for a disability pension.

There’ve been plenty of accidents and in these accidents I’ve always, always hit my head and become unconscious. After that, I have a bad memory. It’s the short-term memory and sometimes… it’s like a block of time. There’s a little worry about how this is going to go, with the body, the legs, the aches, there’s a worry about that… I don’t want to be a cripple who can’t do what I want.

Jimmy’s previous meaning of fulfilling a “proper day’s work”, which shaped his self-perception as a physically strong man [23, 25], was challenged by his bodily limitations. Despite this, he coped by prioritising activities that brought him joy, like spending time with loved ones. His reflections underscored the significance of mental resilience and a positive outlook in confronting physical hurdles, stressing the importance of maintaining optimism. In his 50s, he looked back on his diverse work experiences with pride, noting his ongoing commitment to seeking employment despite obstacles. He disclosed battles with depression and alcohol misuse linked to past relationship and family challenges, which were described as having negatively affected his mental health. Finding a new love and the possibility of becoming a father again became a turning point, inspiring him to remain sober and prioritise self-care. His experiences also drove him to find purpose in supporting vulnerable teenagers in his community, turning his past hardships into a resource for aiding others. This resonates with McAdam’s theories [20] on midlife narratives, highlighting a generative aspect characterised by a dedication to future generations.

Rickard continued working in temporary jobs, forest clearing, wood cutting and truck driving, interspersed with periods of unemployment. He ended up living with his father in his childhood home and did not have a family of his own. He was tight-lipped about his life and health, but in his last interview, aged 56, he was still unemployed and suffering from various metabolic disorders in addition to the neurological disease he had had from a young age.

As a mother in her 30s, Lotta regretted her decision to leave school and blamed herself: “You were so stupid in school, so you screwed it all up. You should’ve straightened yourself out to get better grades, if only you’d had a stronger will”. In her final interview at age 56, Lotta was collecting disability pension due to mental ill-health, which stemmed from a history of repeated trauma. She had endured feeling neglected by her father, left home in her teens and escaped an abusive relationship, although she had faced a custody battle that separated her from one of her children. Following the passing of both parents, she grappled with exhaustion and depression, and received a neuropsychiatric diagnosis, alongside metabolic diseases. These health challenges permanently impaired her ability to work. Reflecting on her life, from the vantage point of early retirement, Lotta expressed pride in her resilience, crediting her inner strength: “I think I must have a psyche of steel because nothing has broken me yet. I’ve fallen down the stairs several times, but I’ve just climbed back up”. While finding relief in reconnecting with her estranged child and reuniting with her father, these events did not signify turning points as she continued to face new stressors impacting her health. She now expressed concern for another child and her struggles with abusive relationships.

In her 20s, Sanna attempted to resume her education but found it too challenging to balance studies with being a single mother. In her 30s, she found employment as a property manager, feeling valued and appreciated in this role despite her lack of formal education. However, a chronic medical diagnose restricted her ability to work effectively. She had faced stress and miscommunication with the employment agency while seeking support for a property maintenance course she wanted to take. Taking matters into her own hands, she independently reached out to the college, making a memorable impression as their first female applicant. Despite obstacles linked to medical disorders, financial strain and single parenthood, including supporting a dyslexic child in school, Sanna credited her ability to navigate these challenges to her determination: “I think it’s thanks to my stubbornness and persistence that I have survived. Sometimes everything has been dark as night, then you get so negative; but then I’ve learned that you put it aside and just let it be for a while, and then you take new springy steps”. At 56, Sanna had been on half-time disability pension for several years due to her medical diagnoses. Despite undergoing surgery, she still faced significant limitations in her daily life, prompting her to reassess her priorities and find value in ordinary moments, particularly with her grown children. As a single mother, she had juggled various responsibilities, including temporary jobs, while managing her poor health. Retiring was depicted a turning-point for improved well-being.

I want to live, and living is to feel well. To sit at home and have a cosy time with my children; we cook together and go to town and buy clothes and such… things that people think are ordinary are luxuries for us because we could never do that when they were small. Then it was everything from A to Z, work… and there was nothing else; we could never go anywhere because I was always sick.

Again, the men detailed a pattern of physically demanding and risky jobs, reflecting the ideal of a hardworking masculinity [23, 25]. The women also held physically demanding jobs but did not express the same pride in them as the men did. Normative femininities, constructed in relation to gendered caregiving [26], strained their health and well-being. Having the main responsibility for the family took precedence over their unstable careers. Chronic disorders were exacerbated by their gendered family and working lives, which further hampered their ability to establish stability in the job market.

Participants narrating this working life path witnessed how their lives were profoundly affected by their marginalised status in the labour market, a situation perpetuated over time. Initially hopeful of securing permanent employment and improved working conditions, their lived experiences told a different story. Echoing previous research, they found that their entry into precarious jobs only reinforced their marginalisation, failing to secure labour market attachment [27, 28]. Consistent with prior research, precarious employment perpetuates a cycle of ongoing insecurity, poor working conditions and deteriorating health status [30]. Through survival stories marked by constant endeavour and struggle, participants emerge as proactive agents attempting to navigate their precarious situation. Despite their efforts, however, they are unable to make positive changes of their working lives. Both women and men who became parents perceived parenthood as meaningful, offering a reprieve from their demanding circumstances, although single mothers in particular faced a heavy burden of caring responsibilities. In addition, power inequalities in the partner relationship could entail physical and or psychological abuse from their partners with severe mental ill-health consequences for the women. As other studies indicate [31, 32], alcoholism among the men also contributed to the violence and solitary living post-separation. In adulthood, the men could grieve for the end of their marriage, through which they lost contact with their children.

II. A stable gendered working life in health-challenging jobs

Four participants, Jenny, Carola, Siri and Fredrik, maintained stable employment throughout their careers but experienced various health problems over time, due to their physically demanding and stressful working conditions. At 23, Jenny expressed remorse for leaving compulsory schooling and felt constrained as a young single mother in pursuing further education as financial obstacles forced her to withdraw.

The only thing I regret in these eight years is that I didn’t complete compulsory schooling, because now I won’t get the chance. It’s not possible if you don’t have a student allowance. I could take out a loan to study secondary education and higher education, but I’ll certainly not put myself in debt to complete eighth and ninth grade.

Reflecting at 24, Carola recounted a life shaped by caregiving duties since the onset of her first partnership and motherhood: “Yes, it’s as others say, first, it’s the mother who protects the boys, and then it’s the girl who takes care of everything”. She lamented her constrained educational opportunities as a young single mother. Like Sanna and Jenny, she embarked on adult education through the municipality to improve her compulsory schooling but found juggling studies with single parenthood too challenging. Alongside her role as a single mother, Carola, like Jenny, highlighted the inadequate financial support for single mothers pursuing education.

This “Knowledge boost” that everyone is talking about [a government labour market measure], you only get funding for a year. But I mean what can you study for one year to become something? Then you must take a student loan in the second year, and I’m not one to take loans.

The young women balanced career ambitions with gendered caregiving responsibilities, forced to prioritise financial security for the family. They became mothers early, navigating traditional gendered duties and partners who might be abusive. Carola emphasised the stability of single motherhood amid tumultuous family dynamics. Jenny and Carola obtained permanent positions in the care sector, but experienced monotonous, physically demanding and mentally stressful working conditions. Carola, like Jenny and other women in the study, constructed her working trajectory within a normative and altruistic feminine framework [26]. She described her limited agency to improve her work situation, alongside a higher purpose of taking care of her children. “I take the job I get and I’m content, that’s it; and I accept whatever I can get; I must, I can’t pick and choose. Not when you don’t have an education and in today’s situation, but I’m not sorry for that”. Despite enduring physical strain and injuries from her demanding job, Jenny in her 50s persisted with work. Carola, also in her 50s, was at the time of the interview on half-time sick leave due to an acute condition but aimed to keep working until retirement.

In her final interview, Siri, now 56, who had initially trained to work with disabled people, reflected on the meaningful but demanding nature of her three-decade career. Rising to the role of manager across multiple care facilities, she faced increasing workload and stress, culminating in her receiving disability pension due to exhaustion and depression. Siri lamented the escalating workload and stress in the care sector, citing high demand and minimal opportunities to influence her working conditions. She expressed frustration over the inability to provide optimal care due to lack of control.

It was too much at work and the demands… that we must do certain things in no time at all… and then the computer took over my work, so I couldn’t be with the users. Well, I could do that… and then it was like I did everything plus what we had to do on the computer. We had to make schedules and document who had been to the toilet and not, and who did not want to go to the store and why they didn’t want to go. Well, screw it, stop documenting! If someone doesn’t want to go to the store, so what? Do I have to write a paper [about that]? I mean, nobody writes what I do at home, and it’s their home. If they’re fine, let them be fine.

Throughout her life story, Siri exhibited agency and determination, which was often labelled as “stubbornness” by herself and others. Despite becoming a single mother at a young age, she pursued education to enter the care sector and left an abusive relationship. However, the demands of her work eventually overwhelmed her, and she reached a breaking point. “You know I’ve always dealt with everything, but one day it just stopped, it was impossible. It was like pulling down a roller blind. I went to the doctor and just cried”. Apart from attending brief job training sessions, Siri’s working life had come to an end, which she depicted as a turning point for improved health. Reflecting on her life journey, she renegotiated the meaning of her professional life.

So, you feel that it’s sad that you were so completely burned out that you couldn’t return to work, because it affects you financially. But, as I used to say, what is money in the big picture? If you aren’t well, nothing can replace that… So, my well-being has actually improved now.

The women who narrated the two first life paths frequently also discussed the challenges faced by their children and grandchildren, including struggles for special support in school. Poor mental health, including neuropsychiatric diagnoses and substance dependency, were also commonly reported.

Fredrik experienced a cycle of seasonal employment in his youth and beyond, often working double shifts but also facing periods of unemployment. These challenges led to persistent financial worries and an increase in stomach problems over time.

You wonder “do I have enough to pay the bills next month?” You can’t do anything else when you get home. If you lay down on the couch, you’ll fall asleep immediately. It’s just cooking [mostly sausages and macaroni] … and sleeping all weekend.

In a later interview, during his middle age, he expressed pride and enthusiasm about securing a permanent warehouse position, which he viewed as a turning point for improved well-being. While he remained in his childhood home and had not started his own family, he maintained strong ties with his siblings and a supportive circle of friends. He reported job satisfaction, overall contentment with life and good health.

Unlike the first life path, participants in this path secured stable employment, avoiding further unemployment-related hardships. Consequently, their stories lacked the instability and survival struggles of life path I, focusing instead on coping with demanding jobs and chronic diseases. Obtaining employment was seen as a significant achievement after enduring job insecurity, particularly for women who as single caregivers had to achieve financial stability. Nonetheless, in similarity with the first life path, many women faced stress-related health problems linked to the demands of work and in private life. Limited agency to improve their situation due to gendered responsibilities was often highlighted. Motherhood held meaning but being single earners meant longer working hours and less time spent with their children [23]. Receiving disability pension was portrayed as a pivotal turning point towards improved health.

III. A self-realising gendered working life with improved health

The third working life path showcases stories of thriving careers and diverse accomplishments. Participants either secured permanent employment early on or pursued municipal adult education and additional education to advance their careers. These achievements were portrayed as turning points, fostering self-realisation and better health. David, Ola, Martin and Petra shared narratives marked by agency and resilience in reaching this stage. However, social support from parents and partners, and supportive senior colleagues, was also said to have played a significant role, empowering them to pursue their goals effectively.

David’s working trajectory took a significant turn when, after a prolonged period of unemployment in his youth, he landed a sales position in a large company despite lacking qualifications. This opportunity allowed him to advance to higher positions and pursue a successful business career. At 57, he enjoyed financial stability, in stark contrast to his impoverished upbringing. While recovering from a recent health issue, he maintained good health and an active lifestyle. Earlier struggles in a tumultuous relationship and being a separated father drained his energy, but now he had found happiness in marriage. Reflecting on leaving school, he revealed struggles with concentration after a family member’s death the year before, compounded by a lack of adult support.

They [his parents] were supportive, but [the close family member] was sick, and my mum couldn’t cope, and of course not dad either… They struggled to keep [the person] alive, so that was a daunting task for them. Somewhere I think that if the situation had not been this way… it would probably have all turned out different.

He pointed out that his teachers could have been more supportive, rather than dismissive, when he expressed his desire to leave school, and he compared his current life situation to his disadvantaged position in childhood.

Nowadays I’m able to provide my children with substantial financial stability. I don’t give them anything they shouldn’t have, but there was just no money when I was a child. Mum was at home caring for me and my siblings, and we had to live on what she had.

While David’s life had taken a positive turn, he believed completing secondary education would have significantly eased his journey. Reflecting, he emphasised the importance of schooling, stating it could have prevented many of his problems.

For the other participants, re-engaging in education played a significant role in improving their working life and health. Consistent with previous findings, their belief and agency were crucial in this process, as they expressed a strong sense of purpose and determination [33]. Ola dropped out of school in seventh grade. Although he said that the teachers thought “he was good at most things”, he stated that school was just not for him. At home, he described a difficult situation with a stepfather who terrorised the family and physically abused his mother. Following a fight, during which Ola hit his stepfather, he had to leave home at 16. He became temporarily homeless, moving between friends and struggling with unemployment and strained finances. Temporary homelessness in youth, especially after dropping out of school, increases vulnerability to risky behaviour and mental health problems [1]. He grappled with periods of unemployment, precarious jobs and health problems such as depressive episodes, headaches and sleeping problems. Ola realised he needed a change, declaring, “I won’t get anywhere if I stay here”. Transitioning to work as a chef marked a pivotal turning point. Supportive colleagues and opportunities to travel abroad boosted his confidence, inspiring him to pursue further education in the field. At 49, Ola reflected on his childhood family issues – alcohol abuse and domestic violence – and linked them to his struggles in school, citing a lack of adult support. He felt that periods of unemployment made him feel a burden to society. Now, Ola prioritises being a present and dedicated father. Like David, he viewed his life as a “series of uphill struggles”, demonstrating that his strong determination to achieve his goals had led to positive outcomes, representing a strong agentic narrative.

It is one’s own will, that “there is nothing that can stop me”. I set a goal and pursue it, and sooner or later I will reach it. I don’t stop until I get there, and then I find new goals. You must have both short- and long-term life goals and not just think day to day, because it was a lot like that when you were younger and there was no one there to explain.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, at 57, Ola’s business declined, and he became unemployed. He sought financial aid and housing while also battling a metabolic disease due to weight gain. However, in a follow-up a few years later, he had secured employment, lost weight and regained good health, overcoming the metabolic condition.

Martin recounted starting a new school in ninth grade where he felt misunderstood and discriminated against by his teachers, and therefore he lowered his ambitions. After completing compulsory schooling with low grades and experiencing brief periods of unemployment, he began working in his father’s company, where he received ample support and later secured a permanent position. Initially, he viewed his life path in line with the second life path: “It’s ok, but I’d rather be doing something else and sometimes I think ‘it’s crap to sit here and do the same thing over and over again, you’ll go crazy’. But at least you’ve got a job and I think you should be happy for that”. Before obtaining a permanent position, Martin struggled with excessive alcohol consumption, using it to cope with low self-esteem in social situations. He admitted he might have become heavily dependent on alcohol if not for his job. At 30, Martin developed a rheumatic condition from repetitive manual labour in cold conditions, prompting a life reassessment. Like Ola, Martin gained confidence in his work, receiving praise for his competence and reliability. This newfound confidence motivated him to pursue education, which became a turning point in his life – first qualifying for university, then training as a technician.

What was good about work was when you went to the construction site, and they said: “good it’s you”, well thank you very much! Then I felt appreciated and there was nothing that could mess that up; and it’s the same thing now. You want to be good at what you do so that people notice that this is carefully executed.

Martin also emphasised his strong determination to push his limits as a significant motivator when he re-entered education, ultimately attaining his current qualified position.

Yes, but you try to… push yourself to do things that you don’t always want to do. Especially with college, it made you wake up and realise that you can do things you never thought you could. It’s been something that has driven you along.

In his final interview, at 57, Martin reflected on the challenges of managing school due to his working-class background. Both his parents had negative school experiences, and his mother’s chronic disability made it hard for her to assist with his studies [22]. Like David and Ola, Martin portrayed himself as the master of his fate. Despite adversities, he achieved a meaningful working life and good health, aside from a rheumatic condition linked to his previous job.

Petra stands out as the only woman in the study who found self-realisation in her work without enduring long-term issues from poor working conditions. She completed further education, became an assistant nurse and pursued specialist courses. After securing a permanent position in the care sector in her youth, she initially followed the second life path. She valued the stability and balance that her job provided for her family life but faced temporary health issues such as high blood pressure and persistent headaches. Engaging with a trade union, due to her concerns about injustice and social inequality, she embarked on a parallel career. Eventually, her employer encouraged her to apply for an inspection job, which she successfully obtained.

In her final interview at 56, Petra expressed contentment with her work and social life. She cherished her long-term marriage, a healthy adult child and her role as a contact family for a young person in need through social services. Active in sports and enjoying good health, she credited further education as a turning point in her life, which made it possible to receive a more qualified position and motivated her to pursue advancement. Like the others, she attributed meaning to her confidence in overcoming obstacles and performing well, attributing this to the support of her parents: “I know my dad used to say, and mum also, that ‘you should think more of yourself than you do. You should always believe in yourself’, and that’s what I’ve done”. She remained committed to her work in the care sector, despite lower wages than in male-dominated jobs, driven by dedication to colleagues and a desire for supplementary income for travel. Reflecting on her decision to leave school early, she concluded:

If [my child] had said to me that “I am going to leave school” …You know, I would’ve done everything just to make him keep going. Yes, I would! Higher education paves the way for better jobs and financial stability.

In this path, participants demonstrated agency in improving their work situations and health. Through education and purposeful career decisions, and with social backing, they forged successful and health-promoting careers. Reflecting on their disadvantaged beginnings and past struggles, characterised by limited agency and poor health, they crafted their life stories within the cultural script of a redemption narrative [20, 34], highlighting their resilience in overcoming adversities. Nonetheless, gendered dynamics also influenced these trajectories. The men excelled in sales and technology sectors, while the lone woman worked in the care sector, which is lower paid [11] and has poorer working conditions [35].