Being young - never better, or getting worse?

A central issue is not so much how well young people are coping with, or adapting to, these changes, but how and under what conditions young people’s wellbeing is maximised. “Resilience” and “the capacity to cope” imply an exposure to potentially adverse situations and circumstances. That most young people possess these qualities doesn't mean the effects of social change on human health and potential can be ignored.

Particularly important is the way that social changes, including the processes of fragmentation and individualisation, have increased uncertainty in young people’s lives. This uncertainty underscores a need to make sense of it all, and “make a life” for one’s self. Young people make their lives by using various resources, especially those drawn from trusted relationships, to create story lines about who they are and where their lives are leading.

Social changes feed into this narrative process in complex ways which cannot easily be captured in statistical associations. While the costs and benefits of social change are not evenly distributed in the youth population, nor are they confined to particular groups. Costs are being incurred across the social spectrum: from unemployed, poorly educated young men who are being excluded from social participation, to privileged, well-educated young women who are experiencing considerable stress because of high, and sometimes conflicting, expectations and aspirations.

Changes that affect everyone can, therefore, affect people differently and contribute to specific problems that only some experience.

The project’s achievements lie in identifying - and bringing out into the open - critical differences (“flashpoints”) in disciplinary perspectives, and in proposing “signposts” for further research and policy development.

On the “flashpoints”, project participants did not agree on: whether trends in well-being can be generalised to describe generations; the extent to which different measures and findings can be explained and reconciled; the relative importance of social influences and individual agency in determining well-being; the social significance of recent research showing brain development continues into early adulthood; and whether potential and well-being are separate and distinct.

With respect to the “signposts”, the project suggests a need for a greater focus in both research and policy on the following if young people's situation is to be optimised: the “big picture” of the broad social changes reshaping life today; total health and well-being, not just ill health; the “mainstream” of youth, not only the marginalised and at-risk; and the social and cultural resources that are as important to well-being as material and economic resources.

Important too, the project’s findings highlight that the most effective policy responses will not be simply about attempting to enhance young people’s resilience, flexibility and adaptability and so to mould them to suit changing social circumstances. Realising young people’s potential and optimising their well-being also mean shaping social conditions to suit their needs.

We need to acknowledge that broad social changes do not “just happen”, but flow from the choices people make, individually and collectively; to question the often-assumed links between means and ends that underpin these changes; and to allow time for reflection, for conversations about the things that matter, and for asking questions as well as seeking solutions.