Youth Unemployment and the Family

The authors examine an area which has not been investigated very widely in social life: the relationship between parents and young adults living in the parental home. Tracing the effects of a poor labour market in 40 families in the North East, the authors reveal how change in the public domain of the economy penetrates the routines and intimacies of family life. The text gives voice to those affected, particularly parents, who are seldom heard, revealing the continuing importance of the family in times of stress and its role in the mediation of social change. As well as social change, the theme of social order runs throughout: the pursuit of order and predictability through which people try to make sense of their lives, the resources out of which such order is constructed (time, space and economic, social, cultural and emotional capital), and the essential fragility of the order created. The authors challenge the notion that unemployment is more easily borne by those living in regions where it has been endemic. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the price paid for the economic restructuring of Britain that has been underway since the 1970s.;This book should be of interest to advanced students of sociology, social policy, and professionals involved in vocational training.