Young Europeans, work and family: Futures in transition

Book abstract:

This book arises from research undertaken by an international multidisciplinary team from Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and the UK. It is concerned with young people's images of the future and their pathways to adulthood. The questions raised are many and varied and include young people's expectations of employment and parenthood and how they think about the sources of support available to them. The research was carried out over a five-year period commencing in the autumn of 1996.

Seven contributors work in a mixture of collaborative groups varying in size from two to four. The introduction to the book provides the background to the project and its subject matter and the methodology is covered in chapter two. The theoretical foundations of the work are addressed in chapter three with particular attention given to the influence of the theory of individualisation. Chapter four debates theories about young people's time orientations and the changing nature of the life-course in post-industrial societies. The changing employment expectations of young people and the impact of risk and accelerating uncertainty in the labour market are explored in chapter five. Manhood and womanhood feature in chapter six 'Young people's awareness of gendered realities' as well as gender aspects of employment and the considerable tensions and contradictions about gender equality. Chapter seven explores attitudes to parenthood and employment and how these two life-course phases are to be combined while chapter eight deals with young people's sense of entitlement to support for the reconciliation of employment and family life. The concluding chapter examines how particular structural circumstances and individual resources shape young people's expectations and the different pathways they take to adulthood.

This book will be of particular interest to those students, academics and practitioners engaged in the fields of sociology, psychology and social anthropology and to politicians and political researchers interested in the development of educational systems.

Julia Brannen is Professor of Sociology of the Family at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. Suzan Lewis is Professor of Organisational and Work-Life Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University. Ann Nilsen is Professor of Sociology at the University of Bergen, Norway. Janet Smithson is a Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology and Speech Pathology at Manchester Metropolitan University