An article examined young people's participation in decisions that affected them, drawing on three research and evaluation projects that were undertaken in partnership with young people as researchers.
Source: Jennie Fleming, 'Young people's participation – where next?', Children & Society, Volume 27 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Dec
An article examined how young Muslims differed from older Muslims and non-Muslim peers in terms of religiosity, and their attitudes on both Islam-specific and broader social issues. Islam played a greater role in defining young Muslims' personal identity, even though they prayed and read scripture less; and they supported plural interpretations of Islam more than their elders. Like other young people, young Muslims showed liberalizing social attitudes on gay marriage and legal abortion. Notably, like young Christians, young Muslims expressed stronger support for including religion in public debates than their elders.
Source: Ridhi Kashyap and Valerie Lewis, 'British Muslim youth and religious fundamentalism: a quantitative investigation', Ethnic and Racial Studies, Volume 36 Number 12
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Dec
An article examined youth poverty and transition to adulthood during the economic crisis in Europe. Focusing on economic independence and residential autonomy as markers of the transition to adulthood, the article documented an increase in economic hardship among young adults in several European countries, which had begun to translate into higher rates of co-residence with parents. The article concluded that economic uncertainty remained in those countries hardest hit, and this would be likely to delay the transition to adulthood. It recommended ongoing analysis.
Source: Arnstein Aassve, Elena Cottini, and Agnese Vitali, 'Youth prospects in a time of economic recession', Demographic Research, Volume 29
Date: 2013-Nov
A report examined intergenerational fairness by region, based on a comparison of house prices, unemployment, democratic participation, health spending, environmental emissions, and education.
Source: Jeremy Leach and Angus Hanton, Where Do Young People Do Worst? How intergenerational fairness differs across the 12 regions of the United Kingdom, Intergenerational Foundation
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Oct
A think-tank report said that headteachers and their governing bodies should be supported to become engaged with the idea of 'citizen schools' and to organize their own citizen school development plans. Regional and area-based curriculums should be updated to include relevant active citizenship opportunities. Existing and future government citizenship initiatives should be devolved to a more local level, and citizen schools encouraged to deliver them to ensure that this work was institutionalized, sustained, and shared.
Source: Jamie Audsley, Clyde Chitty, Jim O Connell, David Watson, and Jane Wills, Citizen Schools: Learning to rebuild democracy, Institute for Public Policy Research
Notes: A 'citizen school' is a school that explicitly creates a democratic culture through its role as a civic institution.
Date: 2013-Sep
A think-tank report examined the underlying reasons why support for the welfare state was in decline, and whether views were shifting from one generation to the next. It incorporated findings from the British Social Attitudes Survey as well as cross-generational workshops. It was found that age was a factor in determining attitudes: the youngest generation was most sceptical of the welfare state, whereas the oldest generation was the most proud and most likely to support further spending on it. However, there was also a 'remarkable' degree of cross-generational solidarity, and a common motivation for any difference in views: all cohorts wanted the system to benefit those who had contributed and those in most desperate need.
Source: Bobby Duffy, Suzanne Hall, Duncan O Leary, and Sarah Pope, Generation Strains, Demos
Links: Report | Summary | Demos press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Sep
An article examined the social mobilization of young people in European countries over the previous four years in the context of economic crisis, austerity policies, and worsening conditions for young people.
Source: Maria da Paz Campos Lima and Antonio Martin Artiles, 'Youth voice(s) in EU countries and social movements in southern Europe', Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, Volume 19 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined the political participation of young people in national democracies in 15 European Union member states. Social inequalities of participation were (with the major exception of voting) found to be much less profound for young people than for other groups.
Source: James Sloam, '"Voice and equality": young people s politics in the European Union', West European Politics, Volume 36 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
A report examined social exclusion suffered by young people in the European Union, and the positive effects that youth work initiatives produced.
Source: Giulia Paolini (with Anna Horvath and Ana Sofia De Almeida Coutinho), Youth Social Exclusion and Lessons from Youth Work: Evidence from literature and surveys, Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (European Commission)
Links: Report
Date: 2013-May
A new book examined the various ways in which young people experienced sport, physical activity, and play as part of their everyday lives; and the policy interventions and outcomes that shaped and defined those experiences.
Source: Andrew Parker and Don Vinson, Youth Sport, Physical Activity and Play: Policy, intervention and participation, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Apr
A think-tank report examined how well developed (OECD) countries lived up to the principles of inter-generational justice. It considered how clearly such principles could be measured, and how cross-national comparisons could help foster more strategic policy-making.
Source: Pieter Vanhuysse, Intergenerational Justice in Aging Societies: A cross-national comparison of 29 OECD countries, Bertelsmann Foundation
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Apr
An article examined the policy context in Scotland in order to discern whether it contributed to all young people achieving participatory parity and subsequently social justice.
Source: Alan Mackie and Lyn Tett, '"Participatory parity", young people and policy in Scotland', Journal of Education Policy, Volume 28 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Apr
An article said that existing youth policy said little about young people's sexuality; and that, when it did, it frequently conflated sexual behaviour with sexual health. Despite the rhetoric of participation, engagement, and inclusion, youth policy continued to perpetuate and naturalize the symbolic order between 'adults' and young people, and continued to position youth sexuality as potentially dangerous.
Source: Allison Moore and Phil Prescott, 'Absent but present: a critical analysis of the representation of sexuality in recent youth policy in the UK', Journal of Youth Studies, Volume 16 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jan