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Youth Policy and Generations: Why Youth Policy Needs to ‘Rethink Youth’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 November 2012

Dan Woodman  and
Johanna Wyn
Dan Woodman
Affiliation:
School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne E-mail: dan.woodman@unimelb.edu.au
Johanna Wyn
Affiliation:
Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne E-mail: j.wyn@unimelb.edu.au
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Abstract

There is an emerging consensus that new approaches are needed to take account of the impact of social conditions on young people's lives. We argue that an approach informed by the sociology of generations can highlight the interrelationships between changing social context and life patterns. This approach enables policies that aim to enhance the social inclusion of youth at risk to recognise the intersections between individual and social transitions that shape the changing experience of youth. We argue that social change needs to be recognised in order to ensure that policies are based on a sound understanding of new patterns in young lives.

Keywords

Youthgenerationspolicyrisksocial inclusionLife Patterns
Type
Themed Section on Risk, Social Inclusion and the Life Course
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 265 - 275
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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