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Youth studies, housing transitions and the 'missing middle': Time for a rethink?

Roberts, Steven D. (2013) Youth studies, housing transitions and the 'missing middle': Time for a rethink? Sociological Research Online, 18 (3). ISSN 1360-7804. (doi:10.5153/sro.3107) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:39010)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5153/sro.3107

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. © Sociological Research Online, 1996-2013.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.5153/sro.3107
Uncontrolled keywords: Cultural resources, Housing careers, Housing transitions, Missing middle, Social change, Youth
Subjects: H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Mita Mondal
Date Deposited: 04 Apr 2014 09:53 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:15 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/39010 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Roberts, Steven D..

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