Making sense of youth transitions from education to work

The term 'youth transitions' has become increasingly fraught as the age range of 'youth' is stretched. It has blurred and extended the phases of transition from education to work, seeing young people as a problem group who are 'at risk' while failing to adequately recognise the institutional and structural contexts. This paper focuses on youth in the 15-24 age range and explores the factors that influence their transition to a sustainable livelihood. In Australia, the focus on youth education and workforce participation was spurred by youth unemployment rates approaching 20 per cent in 1992. While overall unemployment had risen steadily during the late 1980s and early 1990s, youth had been hit particularly hard by the recession. This paper argues that, more than 20 years later, the move from education to work is not always easy, as is evidenced by youth unemployment over the past seven years.