The Impacts of the Economic Crisis on Youth. Review of Evidence
Abstract
The main objectives of this report are to review evidence about the impacts of economic crises on young people, and to draw out implications for young people in the present crisis, in particular indicating which groups of young people and in what circumstances were most likely to be vulnerable in the present/recent crisis. It is intended to identify impacts that are likely to have long-term, intergenerational or wider social effects, and those where the impacts are more discrete or shorter-term. Finally, this report is intended to draw together evidence on policies that have proven effective (or otherwise) in protecting young people during and following economic crises. The report is based on an extensive review of literature in English available from international academic and policy sources.
The report is organised as follows: Taking each of the areas of impact outlined in the conceptual framework in turn, sections 2-5 review evidence concerning the impacts of crises on youth, in relation to employment, education, health and social well-being and citizenship (the latter category including crime and security). There is no separate discussion of the impacts of crises on youth poverty simply because no evidence of this at all could be found in the literature reviewed. Section 6 discusses evidence concerning the effectiveness of both general and youth-focused policy responses for young people affected by crisis. Section 7 highlights gaps in the evidence base and Section 8 concludes, summarising the main points and presenting policy recommendations. The Annexes present detailed tables collating information on youth vulnerability (Annex 1), policy responses (Annex 2) and evidence gathered from longitudinal studies (Annex 3).
Citation
Gavrilovic, M.; Marcus, R. The Impacts of the Economic Crisis on Youth. Review of Evidence. ODI, London, UK (2010) 98 pp. [+ addendum comparison tables]