Young Europeans' Orientations to Families and Work

Suzan Lewis, Janet Smithson and Julia Brannen
Additional contact information
Suzan Lewis: Manchester Metropolitan University
Janet Smithson: Manchester Metropolitan University
Julia Brannen: Institute of Education, London

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1999, vol. 562, issue 1, 83-97

Abstract: This article explores the orientations of young people (aged 18-30) to family and employment. We draw on data collected as part of a qualitative transnational study conducted in five European countries: the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Norway, and Sweden. The young people who participated in this study were either employed, in education or training programs, or unemployed. Some of the salient social and economic trends across Europe and some national differences are first described briefly as background to the study. The meanings that these young adults attach to family, their current work-life priorities, and the work and family arrangements that they envisage for the future are then discussed. In the context of longer periods spent in education or training and the growing insecurity of work, the participants appear to live in an extended present, where current work-life priorities remain sharply in focus. As a consequence of living in an extended present, it is difficult for them to plan for future work and family arrangements. The future scenarios envisaged differ cross-nationally, reflecting social, economic, and ideological context.

Date: 1999
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000271629956200106 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:562:y:1999:i:1:p:83-97

DOI: 10.1177/000271629956200106

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().