Background
Over recent decades, it has become increasingly difficult and uncertain for young adults to establish stable connections to education, working life, and society. At the same time, mental health-related sick leave and disability pensions have increased among young adults. These developments have raised concerns about and about narrowing opportunities for social participation and inclusion. These developments have raised concerns about the growing distress among young people and the conditions for social inclusion in contemporary society.
The life situations of young adults outside work and education are diverse. Previous research has shown that being outside work and education is often associated with experiences of worthlessness, as well as a need to feel valued and recognized as a member of society. These experiences are connected to broader societal questions concerning how the conditions of belonging and inclusion within society are defined and negotiated.
Goal
The study examines how young adults experience belonging to society in situations where engagement with employment or education is difficult due to challenges related to wellbeing, everyday functioning, or mental health. The study seeks to deepen understanding of experiences of exclusion and feelings of worthlessness, as well as the broader societal contexts in which these experiences emerge.
The research aims to explore how individually experienced difficulties are connected to wider social conditions, structures, and societal changes. It also seeks to identify the factors that shape young adults’ opportunities to participate in society and to experience a sense of belonging.
Impact
The study will generate knowledge about how sense of societal belonging is formed in contemporary society, and about the barriers that may hinder these processes. The findings can contribute to the development of educational systems, support services, and workplace practices that better recognize the diverse life situations of young adults, variations in functioning and wellbeing, and different forms of societal participation.
More broadly, the study will provide new insights into how experiences of belonging are shaped within changing social and societal conditions.
Funding
People
Sanna Rikala
Grant Holder, Post Doc Research
Sanna Rikala