Youth loneliness has emerged as a major social concern, yet its associated social factors remain insufficiently understood. Using nationally representative data from the 2023 Survey of Spanish Youth, this study examines loneliness among young people aged 15–34 in Spain, focusing on gender differences in both its prevalence and its associated social factors. Loneliness is measured using the 3-item University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale. We analysed its relationship with sociodemographic, economic, relational, digital and psychosocial factors through multivariate regression models stratified by gender. Nearly one third of young people report experiencing loneliness, with a higher prevalence among women. Mental well-being shows the strongest association with loneliness, followed by material deprivation and recent life transitions. Relational embeddedness—especially the frequency of contact with friends—and sexual orientation are also strongly associated with loneliness, with marked differences by gender. Passive social media use shows a modest but significant association. The findings indicate that loneliness among young people is associated not only with individual psychological characteristics but also with inequalities in relational integration and material conditions, while gender shapes the relative importance of these associations. The study underlines the importance of adopting a gender-sensitive and life-course perspective in research and policy responses addressing youth loneliness.
In this article, we analyse the skills and knowledge of young people using the urban space by introducing the concept of 'urban capital'. We combine two theoretical approaches: the Chicago School-inspired approaches to young people's street cultures and Bourdieu's notion of capitals. Our research data derives from the qualitative longitudinal Youth in Time research project. The sub-data utilized consist of 32 interactive map workshops conducted with 74 secondary school students in the ninth grade (15- to 16-year-olds) living in or near three urban localities in different parts of Finland. In our analysis, we focus on how young people utilize urban space by using their cultural and social capital. We explore how they gradually build their knowledge about local neighbourhoods and how their mobilities develop. Our results show that young people gain urban capital socially, by interacting and sharing stories about how to use urban spaces, how to get around and which places are safe and fun or to be avoided.
Youth protest has become central to political contention in Latin America, yet comparative quantitative evidence remains limited. Complementing well-documented qualitative case studies, this article identifies broader patterns associated with youth participation in, or willingness to participate in, protest across diverse national contexts. Using Latinobarómetro data for 2015 and 2020 combined with country-level socioeconomic and political indicators, the study distinguishes overall protest, authorized and unauthorized demonstrations, and issue-specific willingness to protest. The findings suggest that youth mobilization emerges from the intersection of educational expansion, structural inequality, institutional legitimacy, public provision, digital repertoires and gendered constraints, revealing protest as a multidimensional response to unequal democratic inclusion.
The working life transitions of young people and their relationship with the labour market in changing times have long been a topic of youth research. Work receives special attention, as it is traditionally intertwined with the social tasks of young people: youth is about making labour market choices and ‘becoming’ future worker-citizens. However, youth researchers have been concerned with how this social norm might now contradict the lives of young people. This article contributes to this discussion by introducing a new concept: the ‘epistemological ambivalence of worker-citizenship’. The concept is exemplified by four stories from a data set containing 28 interviews with young people aged 19–25 years. These stories depict how young people engage in complex, but active, negotiations on worker-citizenship from the perspective of its realities, ideals and rights. The concept demonstrates the problems that may arise if young people are expected to belong in society through a fundamentally ambivalent worker-citizenship.
A gap year between upper secondary school and higher education has predominantly been studied as a privilege for socio-economically advantaged youth. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, gap-year activities— particularly overseas travel and volunteer work—are often perceived as strategic advantages in increasingly competitive higher education systems and graduate labour markets. This study offers a different perspective. It explores the gap-year experiences of young people from varied socio-economic backgrounds in two Norwegian cities. For these youth, paid work provides a break from the pressure to constantly plan and optimize the future. Many chose the academic track in school because it promised open doors, which was especially appealing to those unsure about their long-term goals. Over time, they became aware of a system that rewards academic performance above all. Constant deadlines and assessments left little room for reflection. As a result, many felt the need to pause. In this setting, ‘taking things as they come’ emerges as an individualized response to the normative pressure for speed and progression.
