Getting a job, finding a home: Rural youth transitions

by Julie Rugg, Anwen Jones

How easy or difficult is it for young people to get a job and to find a home in the countryside? Debates surrounding youth policy tend to focus on young people in urban areas, despite a high proportion of young people living in the countryside. Furthermore, problems that are often thought of as specifically urban - such as housing need, unemployment and social alienation - are also experienced by rural youth. This report examines the experience of young people getting a job and finding a home in rural districts. Only a very small number of the 60 young people interviewed actually found a sustainable, independent place for themselves in rural communities.  Getting a job, finding a looks at the housing and employment circumstances of the young people interviewed; discusses how the young people judged their experience of living in the countryside; focuses on the experience of single young people balancing housing, employment and transport options; considers problems associated with making transitions to adulthood in the countryside. The authors conclude with a number of policy implications, including issues relating to rurality, family support, employment, housing, transport and household formation. Helping young people to make a successful transition to independence in rural areas requires an holistic policy response that considers housing, employment and transport as a joint issue.

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Julie Rugg lives in York with her husband and daughter. An early memory is winning a bet at the age of twelve to read the full 888-page Warren Commission report of the assassination of John F. Kennedy (he dies in the end), but failing in the subsequent challenge to read The Silmarillion (much less compelling). The episode taught her that life is too short to read Tolkien. However, she continues to read largely indiscriminately, and a current favourite is Ten Minutes to Bedtime.