The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown into relief some key issues in contemporary youth transitions to adulthood in Europe, presented in this book
In early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic struck Europe with a vengeance. All sections of the population were rapidly affected by the efforts made to limit the deadly impact of the coronavirus: lockdowns and other restrictions on personal movement, the closure of public spaces and limits to association.
Young people were perhaps the least at risk in terms of illness and mortality. In other respects, they were disproportionately affected, on account of the closure of educational institutions, the collapse of recruitment to the labour market and the range of challenges surrounding the places and spaces where they lived, whether “at home” or elsewhere.
Covid-19 regulations lasted for well over two years and their consequences linger on or persist. The experience of the pandemic affected young people in many ways. This book provides a range of accounts of those experiences, among different sectors of the youth population, in different parts of Europe and among those who sought to provide young people with support. It draws perspectives from pre-existing research projects that were sustained through the pandemic, spontaneous research inquiries and reflective case studies from practitioners in the field.
This volume of the Youth Knowledge Book series presents a contemporaneous account of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic period on young people. It broadly confirms the resulting exacerbation of the inequalities affecting young people in different and cross-sectional ways, as their lives and aspirations were disrupted and put on hold. But it is by no means completely bad news. Young people also displayed creativity, resilience and sometimes resistance during the pandemic, as did some professionals responsible for supporting them. From this diversity of understanding about responses to one crisis, there are important lessons and ideas for youth policy and how it may respond better to similar crises in the future.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES INTRODUCTION – YOUTH TRANSITIONS IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: TESTING YOUTH POLICY IN UNCERTAIN PRESENTS AND FRAGILE FUTURES
Ewa Krzaklewska, Howard Williamson, Frank Tillmann and Amy Stapleton
PART I – SUPPORT AND INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE CHAPTER 1 – FEELING (UN-)CERTAIN? SCHOOL-TO-WORK TRANSITION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN GERMANY
Karen Hemming and Irene Hofmann-Lun
CHAPTER 2 – YOUNG ADULTS AND HOUSING IN POLAND: SHORT- AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Justyna Kajta, Paula Pustulka and Jowita Radzińska
CHAPTER 3 – COVID-19, VULNERABLE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE, AND THE DISCONTINUATION OF SOCIAL CARE SUPPORT
Daniel Briggs
CHAPTER 4 – SUPPORTING YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Adriana Ciampa, Francesco Chezzi and Monica Grassi
CHAPTER 5 – CARE LEAVERS IN TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD: EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN ITALY, STRATEGIES AND POLICY RESPONSES
Luisa Pandolfi, Sara Degl’Innocenti, Valentina Rossi and Cristina Calvanelli
PART II – MOBILITY AND DIGITAL SPACE CHAPTER 6 – NEW DILEMMAS IN YOUNG PEOPLE’S MOBILE TRANSITIONS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
David Cairns and Mara Clemente
CHAPTER 7 – HOW THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AFFECTED “THE DREAM OF MOBILITY”: TRANSITIONS OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN RURAL ITALY
Mauro Giardiello and Rosa Capobianco
CHAPTER 8 – DIGITAL IMMERSION DURING THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN: ITS IMPACT ON YOUTH TRANSITIONS THROUGH THE EYES OF YOUNG ITALIANS
Stefania Leone, Miriam Della Mura and Andrea Orio
CHAPTER 9 – YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE POLICE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE CASE OF GREECE
Georgios Papanicolaou and Dora Giannaki
PART III – PARTICIPATION AND INCLUSION CHAPTER 10 – THE YOUTH GUARANTEE: LEARNING FROM THE EXPERIENCES OF YOUNG MIGRANTS, REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS IN SPAIN
Alonso Escamilla and Marta Molina
CHAPTER 11 – LISTENING TO YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: THEIR EXPERIENCES OF SUPPORT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Niamh O’Brien and Anna Dadswell
CHAPTER 12 – YOUTH CENTRES AND YOUTH WORKERS’ IMPACT ON YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEIR TRANSITIONS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN ROMANIA
Irina Lonean
CHAPTER 13 – WINGS OF DON BOSCO: THE YOUTH ORGANISATION AS A YOUTH-EMPOWERED EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Ryan Oliver Bautista and Gabrielė Žalpytė
PART IV – WELL-BEING, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL LIFE CHAPTER 14 – “AT THE MOMENT I’M NOT HAPPY WITH MY LIFE”: THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND SOCIAL RESTRICTIONS ON FINNISH YOUNG PEOPLE’S SENSE OF WELL-BEING
Mikko Salasuo and Jenni Lahtinen
CHAPTER 15 – TRANSITIONING THROUGH HIGHER EDUCATION: HOW THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS AFFECTED THE LEARNING PATHWAYS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Veronika Gyurovicsova and Howard Williamson
CHAPTER 16 – MENTAL HEALTH AND ASSESSMENTS: SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR YOUTH TRANSITIONS
Gilda Isernia
CHAPTER 17 – ADAPTING SERVICES AND SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE NEGOTIATING THE TRANSITION FROM CARE TO ADULTHOOD IN THE MIDST OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Emily Munro, Seana Friel, Claire Baker and Fiona Newlands
PART V – NAVIGATING TRANSITIONS CHAPTER 18 – NAVIGATING TRANSITIONS IN POST-PANDEMIC EUROPE: KEY MESSAGES FROM THE YOUTH PARTNERSHIP SYMPOSIUM 2022
Maria-Carmen Pantea
CHAPTER 19 – TRANSITIONS ON HOLD? YOUTH TRANSITIONS OF VULNERABILITY AND INSECURITY IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: IMPLICATIONS FOR YOUTH POLICY
Ewa Krzaklewska, Howard Williamson, Amy Stapleton and Frank Tillmann