Plenary Session “From Theory to Practice” 23 September 2009

Title: Identifying gaps and misalignments in youth policy

Presenter: Johanna Wyn

Abstract

Research has a significant role to play in supporting the development of youth

policies that are relevant and effective. In some areas of policy, young people are
especially affected by changing social and economic conditions (for example, changes
in labour markets), which create a particular challenge for policy. In other areas (such
as education) institutional processes often lag behind social change and this is also a
challenge for policy. This presentation draws on analyses of Australian data and on
comparisons of Australian and Canadian data to reflect on the intended and
unintended ways in which policies impact on young people’s lives. It focuses on the
lives of Generation X, who were establishing themselves as young adults in the
1990s. This generation bore the brunt of education and labour market policies, in both
Australia and Canada that were intended to ensure a supply of labour to meet the
change from industrially-based economies to knowledge and service economies in a
globally competitive marketplace. It highlights the importance of recognising the
impact of changing social conditions on the possibilities and constrains that young
people face, and on the need for greater collaboration between policy-makers and
researchers in responding to young people’s needs.

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