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Youth Studies, Housing Transitions and the ‘Missing Middle’: Time for a Rethink?

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  • Steven Roberts

Abstract

A recent but growing trend in studies of young people's lives has been to highlight that there is a ‘missing middle’ in the youth studies research agenda. It has been argued that much youth research focuses on either successful or very troubled transitions to adulthood, with the lives of those who might simply be ‘getting by’ representing an empirical absence. Building on previous work that has addressed how such a missing middle can add to our understanding of educational experience and attainment, labour market engagement and participation, and issues of identity, this paper pays attention to the housing transitions, careers and aspirations of a group of ‘ordinary’ and apparently unproblematic working class young men. Because they do not represent groups that have been of especial interest in youth studies to date, their experiences problematize the on-going utility of dominant conceptual frameworks used to explain housing transitions. In addition to their ‘lack of fit’ with ideal type typologies, the young men also reveal the shifting nature of attitudes towards communal living ‘which is traditionally associated with middle class students’ in combination with the continuing role of social resources as a determining factor in their housing transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven Roberts, 2013. "Youth Studies, Housing Transitions and the ‘Missing Middle’: Time for a Rethink?," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 18(3), pages 118-129, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:18:y:2013:i:3:p:118-129
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.3107
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Francesco Billari & Aart Liefbroer, 2007. "Should i stay or should i go? The impact of age norms on leaving home," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(1), pages 181-198, February.
    2. Juliet Stone & Ann Berrington & Jane Falkingham, 2011. "The changing determinants of UK young adults' living arrangements," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 25(20), pages 629-666.
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    1. Elyse Warner & Claire Henderson-Wilson & Fiona Andrews, 2017. "“It’s Give and Take”: Australian Families’ Experiences of Negotiating Financial and Domestic Contributions When Young Adults Return Home," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 541-555, December.
    2. Ian Cole & Ryan Powell & Elizabeth Sanderson, 2016. "Putting the Squeeze on ‘Generation Rent’: Housing Benefit Claimants in the Private Rented Sector - Transitions, Marginality and Stigmatisation," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(2), pages 23-36, May.

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