A survey (the first of a new quarterly series) found that the groups who saved the most as a percentage of income were single people, part-time workers, and (particularly) those aged 16-24.
Source: Press release 8 December 2004, National Savings and Investments (020 7348 9301)
Links: NSI press release
Date: 2004-Dec
The 21st report of British Social Attitudes was published. It looked at: what people felt about being British, and their attitudes to immigration; what young people thought about working mothers, cohabiting, premarital sex and lone parents; how young people engaged with politics and politicians; people s attitudes to government social policies, and proposals on devolution and regional assemblies; people's feelings about genetic modification in food and in medical technology; and how people used the internet, and its impact or otherwise on their political activity.
Source: Alison Park, John Curtice, Katarina Thomson, Catherine Bromley and Miranda Phillips (eds.), British Social Attitudes: The 21st Report, SAGE Publications Ltd (020 7324 8500)
Links: Natcen press release (Word file) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Dec
A discussion paper explored ways of promoting the participation of children and young people in policy and service development in Wales.
Source: Children and Young People s Participation: Working towards a definition, Participation Consortium c/o Save the Children (029 2039 6838)
Links: Discussion paper (pdf) | Discussion paper (Welsh) (pdf)
Date: 2004-Nov
The Northern Ireland Executive began consultation on a draft ten-year strategy to promote the rights of children and young people. It dealt with issues such as protection, education, the environment, bullying, play facilities, and transport. It also sought to increase the participation of children and young people in decisions that will affected their everyday lives, such as road safety initiatives, and schemes to improve the lives of children and young people in rural areas.
Source: Making it r wrld 2 (sic.), Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 8429)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | NIE press release
Date: 2004-Nov
Researchers examined whether the behaviour of young people was influenced by prototypes. They used surveys to examine what images young people held of the type of people who engaged in a wide variety of healthy and risky behaviours, and how these influenced their own behaviour. Overall, the findings suggested that serious account should be taken of the role of social images as factors determining decisions and actions.
Source: Paschal Sheeran, Chris Armitage and Amanda Rivis, Unconscious Effects of Prototypes on Young People's Health and Social Behaviour, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Nov
Campaigners set out a policy manifesto on behalf of young people. Society needed to rethink what it wanted for young people, and how it supported them. Significant investment and reform was long overdue.
Source: Youth Offer for the 21st Century, 4Children (formerly Kids Clubs Network) (020 7512 2100)
Links: Manifesto (pdf)
Date: 2004-Nov
A survey examined the views of young people on sex and relationships. Both sexes found communicating about sex and relationships extremely difficult, compounded by a general lack of quality information. Those interviewed reported that the sex education they had received in school was poorly resourced and delivered, treated sex as a negative experience, and did not provide them with the tools to help them negotiate the complexities of personal relationships.
Source: Opinion Leader Research, Are You Ready?: Young people s views of sex and relationships, Family Planning Association (020 7923 5202)
Links: Report (pdf) | FPA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Nov
The government announced two new in-depth projects looking at how mainstream services could work better to meet the needs of socially excluded people. The Social Exclusion Unit would investigate the barriers faced by young adults with severe or multiple problems during their transition to adulthood, and the problems experienced by socially excluded older people.
Source: Press release 21 October 2004, Social Exclusion Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 8133)
Links: SEU press release
Date: 2004-Oct
A report said there was evidence of a growth in the level of participation work with children and young people in both the statutory and voluntary sectors. But there were marked variations between different types of statutory sector organization - although a considerable amount of work appeared to be undertaken in some organizations, particularly Connexions Services, Children's Fund partnerships and local government, it appeared to be more limited in those working in the fields of health and criminal justice, and in central and regional government.
Source: Carolyn Oldfield and Clare Fowler, Mapping Children and Young People s Participation in England, Research Report 584, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-Oct
A study looked at the experiences and perspectives of young people on the issue of sectarianism in Northern Ireland. They wanted more integrated schools, more informal mixing between schools, and better facilities and activities for young people to mix in a non-sectarian atmosphere.
Source: Shirley Ewart and Dirk Schubotz (with others), The Voices Behind the Statistics: Young people's views of sectarianism in Northern Ireland, National Children s Bureau (020 7843 6029)
Links: Report (pdf) | BBC report | Children Now report
Date: 2004-Oct
A study of national and regional newspapers found that they habitually portrayed young people in a negative light, concentrating on crime and disorder issues.
Source: Survey by MORI for Young People Now, 20-26 October 2004
Links: Young People Now report | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Oct
A study found that although many young people had positive views of volunteering - seeing it as an opportunity to gain skills and experience and put something back into society - a minority dismissed it as being boring and not cool .
Source: Generation V: Young people speak out on volunteering, Institute for Volunteering Research (020 7520 8900)
Links: Summary | IVR press release
Date: 2004-Sep
A report described the findings of the 2003 Young People s Social Attitudes survey, a survey of young people aged 12-19. It examined the extent to which particular subgroups of young people differed in their views and experiences. It focused particularly upon age, sex, and household background characteristics such as household income and adult educational background (information about which was collected as part of the British Social Attitudes survey).
Source: Alison Park, Miranda Phillips and Mark Johnson, Young People in Britain: The attitudes and experiences of 12 to 19 year olds, Research Report 564, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-Aug
A study found that the trend for young people to continue in education and postpone independence was creating problems - both for parents with limited financial resources and other responsibilities, and also for young adults who wanted to be able to make and act on their own decisions. (The research was conducted by Gill Jones at the School of Social Relations, Keele University.)
Source: Press release 14 August 2004, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: ESRC press release
Date: 2004-Aug
Research examined families and the transition from youth to adulthood in five key areas - independence, financial support, family dynamics, economic transitions, and family formation. It found that, when making education/work decisions, young people needed to take a long-term view: but there were short-term pressures, sometimes emanating from parents.
Source: Gill Jones and Graham Martin, The Parenting of Youth: Social protection and economic dependence, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jul
An article reported a study which used the accounts of parents, supplemented by those of their children (aged 13-17), to develop understanding of the role of families in the production and garnering of social capital. It argued that non-traditional family forms did not necessarily represent deficits in social capital, but rather might actively utilize alternative supportive factors and structures through previously unidentified family processes and network associations.
Source: Peter Seaman and Helen Sweeting, 'Assisting young people's access to social capital in contemporary families: a qualitative study', Journal of Youth Studies, Volume 7 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2004-Jun
A report analysed the views and experiences of young people from minority ethnic communities in Northern Ireland. More than 50 young people between the ages of 10 and 18 from minority ethnic communities were interviewed as part of the research.
Source: Count Me In, Save the Children in Northern Ireland (028 9043 1123) and Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Jun
Researchers evaluated the role of mentoring by looking at the experience of ten Mentoring Plus programmes for disaffected young people - combining one-to-one mentoring, education/training and social activities. The achievements of Mentoring Plus were 'particularly impressive', given their context.
Source: Michael Shiner, Tara Young, Tim Newburn and Sylvie Groben, Mentoring Disaffected Young People: An evaluation of Mentoring Plus, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report (pdf) | Findings | JRF press release | Children Now report
Date: 2004-Jun
A report analysed the concept of social capital in the context of young people's experiences of the troubles in Northern Ireland. It said that the two main communities in Northern Ireland could be seen as generating both 'positive' and 'negative' social capital for those who lived within them.
Source: Sheena McGrellis, Pushing the Boundaries in Northern Ireland: Young people, violence and sectarianism, Working Paper 8, Families & Social Capital ESRC Research Group/South Bank University (020 7815 5750)
Links: Working paper (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jun
A special issue of the journal Children & Society focused on participation by children and young people, particularly in relation to differing notions of social exclusion and inclusion.
Source: Children & Society, Volume 18 Number 2
Links: Table of contents
Date: 2004-May
A report presented the results of the review of the United Kingdom Youth Parliament, designed to ensure it had the structures and support necessary to sustain its continued growth and enable it to meet its objectives. It said the Parliament had achieved a lot in its first three years, but it was not meeting the expectations of many of its stakeholders.
Source: Review of the UK Youth Parliament: Final report, Office for Public Management Ltd (020 7239 7800)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
A report analysed the experiences and views of young people from ethnic minority communities growing up in Northern Ireland.
Source: Katy Radford, Count Me In: Exploring cultural diversity amongst children and young people, Save the Children (028 9043 1123) and Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-May
An evaluation found that the Neighbourhood Support Fund had consistently achieved its main aims throughout a three-year pilot. NSF projects engaged more than 50,000 young people in their projects - 5,000 more than target.
Source: Sarah Golden, Thomas Spielhofer, David Sims and Lisa O Donnell, Supporting the Hardest-to-Reach Young People: The contribution of the Neighbourhood Support Fund, Research Report 535, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
The Electoral Commission recommended that the minimum age for all levels of voting at public elections should not be lowered below 18 years, but that the minimum candidacy age should be reduced from 21 to 18.
Source: Age of Electoral Majority, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Electoral Commission press release
Date: 2004-Apr
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on policy towards children and young people in Wales. It accepted a recommendation that powers over CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) in Wales should be transferred to the National Assembly for Wales.
Source: The Government Response to the First Report of the Committee Session 2003-04: The Empowerment of Children and Young People in Wales, Second Special Report (Session 2003-04), HC 459, House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2004-Apr
A report presented the findings and key practice and policy implications from two research studies undertaken with children and young people living in areas of high crime and high deprivation.
Source: Jean Hine, Francesca Lemetti and Sara Trikha, Citizenship: Young people s perspectives, Development and Practice Report 10, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Apr
A survey found that by the age of 17-18, young people appeared to be aware of social responsibilities and ready to take an active part in the democratic process. However, there was also some evidence that those who had moved away from full-time education faced challenges that might dampen their enthusiasm for voting and taking part in their communities.
Source: On the Right Track: What matters to young people in the UK?, Save the Children (020 7703 5400)
Links: Report (pdf) | SCF press release
Date: 2004-Apr
A think-tank report proposed a scheme designed to develop the concept of civic involvement and active citizenship among young people aged 16-24. It would provide opportunities for young people to work for up to a year in the service of the community on genuine work programmes and earn credit to offset university fees, help buy a first home or help set up a new business.
Source: Ruth Fox and Thieu Besselink, Connecting People, Fabian Society (020 7227 4900)
Links: Fabian Society press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A working paper presented findings from two studies, both part of a longitudinal qualitative study (following a sample of young people drawn from five different locations) which investigated the transition from youth to adulthood.
Source: Rachel Thomson and Janet Holland, Youth Values and Transitions to Adulthood: An empirical investigation, Families & Social Capital ESRC Research Group/South Bank University (020 7815 5750)
Links: Working paper (pdf) | Appendix (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
A report examined the evidence regarding organisational participation infrastructure for young people in the statutory and voluntary sectors in England, and made recommendations for improvements.
Source: David Cutler and Alice Taylor, Expanding and Sustaining Involvement: Snapshot of participation infrastructure for young people living in England, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb
The second year of a three-year evaluation provided evidence that post-16 citizenship development projects were developing 'a range of innovative approaches to active citizenship'.
Source: Julie Nelson, Pauline Wade, David Kerr and Graham Taylor, National Evaluation of Post-16 Citizenship Development Projects: Second annual report, Research Report 507, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jan
A committee of MPs commended the Welsh Assembly for its work to promote children and young people's participation at all levels of life in Wales. It said it was 'unimpressed' with the existing form of the United Kingdom Youth Parliament and its dual role as the UK Youth Parliament and the English Youth Parliament, and recommended the establishment of a separate English Youth Parliament. It also said that powers over youth justice should be conferred on the Welsh Assembly.
Source: The Empowerment of Children and Young People in Wales, First Report (Session 2003-04), HC 177, House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2004-Jan
A new book of essays examined citizenship education in secondary schools. It focused on three particular areas: young people in their immediate school community; the links between young people, schools and the wider community; and the wider political culture for young people s participation in formal politics.
Source: Benjamin Linsley and Elisabeth Rayment (eds.), Beyond the Classroom: Exploring active citizenship in 11-16 education, New Politics Network (020 7278 4443)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Jan