UCL Centre for Global Youth

There’s a lot of critical debate in the youth academic circles & lots of LinkedIn posts about this (see Amy Orben, Jessica Ringrose). Also lots of critique of Jonathon Haigh (eg The TES article). But not cutting through to mainstream public.

7 year after becoming Professor… it’s my inaugural lecture!

Improving the life chances of disadvantaged young people: how do we break down barriers to opportunity?

Thursday 12 March, 5.15pm

Room G06, Roberts Building
Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE

Book your place here:
bit.ly/life_chances

UCL Grand Challenges (@uclgrandchallenges.bsky.social) 🎙️ New Podcast Mini-Series: Inequalities in Focus As part of our Disruptive Voices series, this mini-series invites you to engage in thought-provoking conversations with UCL researchers & interdisciplinary experts who are tackling some of society’s most pressing inequalities. 🎧👇https://bit.ly/42x2Rqv

Today's young people are critical, agentic users of social media says IOE's @jessicaringrose.bsky.social . The conversation "Shared Screens, Split Realities: Rethinking Online Safety Together" @uclgrandchallenges.bsky.social discusses navigating online life.
bsky.app/profile/uclgrandcha...

What are the effects of youth club closures in the UK? - Economics Observatory The widespread closing of youth clubs during the 2010s, driven by government austerity measures, led to falling educational performance and increasing rates of youth offending. The long-term…

TODAY on the Economics Observatory – What are the effects of youth club closures in the UK? By @carmenvillaecon.bsky.social

One in three young people surveyed expect to need mental health support in coming year The majority (64%) of young adults in Britain say they have experienced mental health difficulties, with a third (32%) expecting to need support in the coming year, according to polling commissioned f...

The majority of young adults in Britain say they've experienced mental health difficulties, with a third expecting to need support in the coming year, according to polling commissioned from @yougov.co.uk by the @uclgrandchallenges.bsky.social of Mental Health & Wellbeing @uclbrainscience.bsky.social

Young people in coastal towns are getting left behind – here’s what could help For young people living in seaside towns year-round, there’s little to do – and youth services are crumbling.

🌊 Shoring up support for young people in coastal towns could look like:
- Creating safe spaces and activities, available outside of the summer season
- Investing in youth services, including funding for youth worker training

theconversation.com/young-pe...
@uclglobalyouth.bsky.social

Young people in coastal towns are getting left behind – here’s what could help For young people living in seaside towns year-round, there’s little to do – and youth services are crumbling.

🖋️"The cost of doing nothing – for coastal towns and the young people who live there – are severe."

Prof Avril Keating, @drsamwhewall.bsky.social and Emily Clark @uclglobalyouth.bsky.social explore how to better support young people growing up in coastal towns.

theconversation.com/young-people...

Young people in coastal towns are getting left behind – here’s what could help For young people living in seaside towns year-round, there’s little to do – and youth services are crumbling.

✏️New piece in @theconversation.com. We spoke with 50 policymakers and youth practitioners about the issues facing young people growing up in English coastal communities. theconversation.com/young-people...

Why are young women increasingly left-wing? And how it could change politics

New post:

"Why are young women increasingly left-wing?"

There's been a lot of focus on young men + the right but less on this much bigger political shift amongst young women.

Why is it happening? How could it change politics?

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/w...

@jisc.bsky.social have the new Graduate Outcomes data out today, looking at the outcomes of graduates from the 2022/23 academic year, and where they were at the end of 2024, 15 months after graduating.

www.hesa.ac.uk/news/17-07-2...

Newcastle Youth Studies Centre The Newcastle Youth Studies Centre is a collaborative group of researchers who work with young people to understand their lives, and the social, cultural, and economic forces they are living in.Too of...

We are pleased to announce our online seminar series taking place in the 2nd half of the year with 6 sessions that cover a wide range of important social issues.
You can see full details including abstracts and can book Zoom tickets at our Eventbrite page: www.eventbrite.com.au/o/newcastle-...

The Professor Will See You Now: Votes at 16 In an occasional series, professor Philip Cowley offers a political science lesson for The House’s readers. This week: votes at 16

🗳️ Downing Street has confirmed it will extend the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds by the next general election

👇 Read @philipjcowley.bsky.social's analysis from earlier this year, on why lowering the voting age is unlikely to increase turnout in subsequent elections

16- & 17-year-olds will vote in the next general election. Strengthened Citizenship education is essential to ensure young people are equipped with the knowledge & skills to participate in democracy confidently. Read our full statement below 👇 #Votesat16

There's also a lot of work to be done to revitalise + extend #citizenshipeducation in schools in England. As ‪@acitizenshipt.bsky.social‬ can tell you, #cited can work but schools provision has been weakened + marginalised over past 15 years.

And we'd love to see #voteat16 combined with really strong mechanisms for including young people in *local* decision-making. This was another key theme of our recent report + we include an example from North Tyneside Council on how this can be done discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

Voting age to be lowered to 16 in UK by next general election 16- and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in all elections as part of changes including easier voter registration and a crackdown on foreign interference

Having researched #Vote16 for 13 years, knowing the evidence and, crucially, meeting so many fantastic young people, I am very happy that #VotesAt16 will become reality across the UK! I hope that our research (@chuebner.bsky.social) has been useful to some.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Renewed policy attention to young people + #youth services is overdue + much welcomed but there is a long way to go after 15 years of cuts, as our recent report on coastal #youth demonstrated www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...

It's also worth seeing this as part of a wider shift to pay more attention to #youth issues + #youth services: researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CB...

The intro of #voteat16 for future UK gen elections will generate lots of debate + headlines. But worth keeping an eye on the data we already have on this topic + on experiences in Scotland. This might have more impact on long-term trends (voting habits, youth inclusion) than on next general election

Today's announcement about lowering the voting age in UK general elections to 16 will provoke a lot of headlines + predictions, but worth keeping an eye on data we have so far + what experiences in Scotland can already tell us.

All our #Coastal #youth projects involve #co-production + participatory methods. This new article (led by @rachelbenchekroun.bsky.social) describes how we put this into practice in one recent project, the challenges that we faced + the insights we gained 👇 journals.uclpress.co.uk/r4a/article/...

1) Joe and Julia, Blackpool Beach. 2) Young people walking to Whitehaven. Photo by Polly Braden.

1) Joe and Julia, Blackpool Beach. 2) Young people walking to Whitehaven. Photo by Polly Braden.

Heading to the beach this weekend? See if you can see it from the perspective of the young people who live there year round.

‪@uclglobalyouth.bsky.social research is exploring the challenges faced by these geographically isolated young people.
uclioe.info/4lnSqwO

📸 Polly Braden / @theguardian.com

A new report from @uclglobalyouth.bsky.social @ioe.bsky.social highlights the challenges faced by young people growing up in England's coastal communities.

Young people growing up in England’s coastal communities face unique obstacles A new report, from the UCL Coastal Youth Life Chances project, highlights the challenges faced by young people growing up in coastal communities across England.

As part of the CYLC project we talked to 50 policymakers and #youth practitioners about the challenges facing young people aged 15-20 in #coastal communities in England. Our report on these policymaker + practitioner perspectives was published this week 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...

It's great to see young people in #coastal communities being discussed in @theguardian.com this week. This age group is often overlooked. Our Coastal Youth Life Chances (CYLC) project is trying to help fill this gap www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Excited to share a new report (discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...) from the UCL Coastal Youth Life Chances project (featured in two pieces by @theguardian.com this morning!) @uclglobalyouth.bsky.social @ioe.bsky.social

Call for articles on children and youth engaged in paid employment while studying.

For a special issue of the journal Work, Employment and Society.

Papers are due by 27 February, 2026.

UK looks to military gap years to boost recruitment in the face of growing geopolitical tension There is an increasing military presence in children and young people’s lives in the UK.

Thanks to @sarah-mills.bsky.social for highlighting that there is a lot on youth in the latest UK strategic defence review theconversation.com/uk-looks-to-...

Fieldwork season is kicking off again this week for @uclglobalyouth.bsky.social and the Coastal Youth Life Chances study 🦀

Supporting the lives and aspirations of children and young people migrating to the UK alone Elaine Chase will explore the gaps between the lived realities of young people arriving in the UK seeking asylum alone and the UK’s immigration and welfare policies.

And hear Elaine Chase discuss the gaps between the experiences of young people arriving in the UK seeking asylum alone, and the UK’s immigration and welfare policies.

Join the @tcru-ucl.bsky.social Annual Lecture on 22 May.

www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/events/2...