A level Students learn about leaving home

On 12th March 2010, the ESRC Centre for Population Change hosted an event for 'A'level sociology students from Taunton's college as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science. More than 60 students took part in the interactive workshop, entitled 'Leaving home in the 21st Century'. During the day, the students learned about current and historical trends in the living arrangements of young people, with an opportunity to discuss their own housing needs and aspirations with expert speakers. Activities included preparing a weekly budget for young people in different social and financial circumstances, brainstorming on the meaning of 'adulthood', and mapping out possible trajectories of home, work and family on leaving the parental home. The day was felt to be a great success as a learning experience for both the participants and the organisers.

The event tied in with recent research published by the ESRC Centre for Population Change on the living arrangements of young adults. An article published in the Winter 2009 edition of Population Trends showed that over the past twenty years, there has been a fall in the number of young adults living as a couple (with or without children) in their twenties, with an increasing tendency towards living either in the parental home or outside a family in young adulthood. The research, by Ann Berrington, Juliet Stone and Jane Falkingham, was reported widely in the national and international news, including articles in The Times, Guardian, the Independent, the Belfast Telegraph and the Times of India. Juliet Stone, was interviewed on various BBC local radio stations including; Wiltshire, Scotland, Tees, Lancaster, Derby, Northampton, Lincolnshire, Solent and Kent.

Click the following links to see more photos from this event;
Preparing a budget 1
Preparing a budget 2
The meaning of adulthood 1
The meaning of adulthood 2
The meaning of adulthood 3
Trajectories to leaving home 1
Students working 1
Students working 2
Students working 3

Posted 31/03/2010 16:32