The document discusses transitions faced by young people and how their quality of life is impacted. It addresses topics like education, employment, health, housing, and relationships. Three generations of youth are examined from the 1960s to the 2000s, noting changing social expectations and opportunities. Research is mentioned that explores the paradox between increasing qualifications and decreasing job opportunities. The conclusion questions whether today's youth have been sacrificed or betrayed without guarantees of jobs or training, and calls for engagement and diverse opportunities to support young people.

1. © University of South Wales
Forever Young
Transition and what does it
mean for young people today
Dr Howard Williamson
Professor of European Youth Policy

2. Transitions means many things……
But, unless they die, young people, like
all people have to live a life
And it is the quality of that life that
matters – its opportunities, its
possibilities, its experiences……….
© University of South Wales
How long is a piece of string?

3. • Education (schooling and more)
• Vocational training
• Employment
• Health
• Housing
• Crime
• Relationships
• Leisure
• Travel / mobility
• Hobbies ….. More?
© University of South Wales
Three generations

4. • Delinquency (1960) – The Teenage Consumer!
• Youth cultures (1970s) – Resistance through Rituals
• Transition from school to work (1980s)
• Transitions from school (1990s)
• Complex, multiple, reversible (1990s-2000s)
• Education, training, employment
• Families: origin to destinations
• Housing: dependent to independent
• Opportunity and Risk
• Inclusion / exclusion
• Advantage / disadvantage
• Human, social and identity capital
• The ‘youth divide’ (2000s)
© University of South Wales
Youth research

5. • Social expectations and opportunities –
increasing supply
• Global shifts and labour market
restructuring – decreasing demand
• Qualification inflation / credentialism
• Meaning & Relevance of transition
pathways
• The paradox of Alpbach v. Milltown
© University of South Wales
Aspiration and attainment

6. • ‘Struggling beyond youth’ and ‘Trapped
as teenagers’ (written by me in 1985)
• Belonging / Security / Opportunities
• Aspirations / Volunteering
• Pathways for progression
• Engagement and Contribution
• Community, values and reciprocal relationships
• Self-assurance and self-confidence
• Purposeful activity
• Resilience
• Optimism
© University of South Wales
Forever Young?

7. • No generational contract
• The Pinch
• A stolen inheritance?
• Responses of the young?
• Positive attributes in short supply?
• Autonomy or Abandonment
• Multiple sites for initiative,
intervention and invention
© University of South Wales
A generation sacrificed…. Or betrayed?

8. New guarantees?
Jobs – what kind of jobs?
Training – what kind of training?
Need for contact, engagement, judgment, then
the provision of diverse opportunities
Different, not new, deals – labour market,
community, youth projects, personal projects
Ladders and stepping stones towards the labour
market – personal and positional change
© University of South Wales
No guarantees

9. Emotional / Psychological
Cultural / Social
Material / Economic
Civic - Political
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Making the connections
Inter – generational
Intra – generational
Cross-cultural
Inter-faith

10. Morally (ethically)
Economically
Politically
Generationally
Culturally?
© University of South Wales
Can we afford to do nothing?
But WHAT, WHO FOR, HOW, WHEN, WHERE?

11. © University of South Wales
May you NOT stay
Forever Young