Coastal youth: exploring the impact of coastal towns on young people's life chances

该项目探讨了在沿海城镇长大对年轻人生活机会的影响，即他们成年后在教育、工作、住房、健康和福祉方面取得良好成果的可能性。我们专注于沿海城镇，因为英国一些最贫困的社区现在都在沿海地区。在最近的英国政策辩论中，沿海城镇吸引了大量关注，这些讨论往往会引发人们对这些城镇年轻人未来的担忧，这主要是因为教育和就业机会有限。尽管如此，关于在沿海城镇长大对年轻人的经历、态度或生活机会的影响的研究很少。本项目将通过回答四个关键问题来解决这一差距：1。(a)与英格兰和威尔士类似的贫困地区相比，在沿海城镇长大是否会影响年轻人的生活机会？(b)这些生活机会上的不平等会在人的一生中持续存在，还是在以后的年龄里缩小？2.在沿海城镇长大与成年后不利的生活机会之间有哪些环境机制？3.什么样的个人属性或经历可以帮助减轻在沿海城镇长大的最初缺点（例如父母的支持，居住的流动性或愿望）？4.根据（a）准实验性定量方法的结果和（B）沿海居民自己的意见，哪些干预措施可以改善沿海社区青年的生活机会？我们将使用定量和定性数据相结合来解决这些问题。定量分析利用了三代人的纵向调查数据，使我们能够比较1970年代，1980年代和2000年代青少年的结果。这些队列研究使我们能够考虑：生命历程中的变化（随着受访者长大并进入成年后期）;随时间的变化（代际差异）;以及地理变化（沿海和非沿海青年之间的代际差异）。我们还可以利用这些数据，通过应用准实验的定量方法来测试潜在的政策解决方案。该项目还包括一个定性链，将产生沿海城镇现有居民的原始数据。在英格兰和威尔士的6个沿海城镇，我们将与年轻和年长的居民谈论他们在沿海城镇成长的经历，以及他们对城镇年轻人的机会和愿望的看法。居民们还将被要求就他们的城镇需要做些什么来改善年轻人的生活机会发表意见。这一部分将使用合作生产的方法来完成，包括招募，培训和支持年轻人成为他们社区的年轻研究人员。我们还将使用基于艺术和地点的方法，如明信片制作，步行采访和生活地图。随着时间的推移，变化将进一步审查比较青年的愿望，从今天起，在NCDS 1969年学生论文档案汇编。这些分析的结果将为学术辩论带来新的见解，并为公众讨论健康，福利，就业和教育方面的地方差异提供新的政策建议。因此，我们的研究结果将有助于最近关于提高水平和解决区域不平等问题的讨论（HM Govt，2022）以及关于生活机会平等（Field，2010）和健康不平等（CMO，2021）的长期讨论。虽然各种报告都指出了关切领域，但很少提供高级分析或以青年为重点的解决办法，我们期望这一项目能够有助于填补这些空白。当地的政策制定者和从业者也将受益于更深入地了解他们的年轻人和老年人如何看待他们的城市目前，以及他们希望他们的城市在未来如何发展。

This project examines the ways in which growing up in a coastal town can impact on young people's life chances; that is, their likelihood of having good outcomes in adulthood in terms of education, work, housing, and health and wellbeing. We focus on coastal towns as some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK are now in coastal areas. Coastal towns have attracted a lot of attention in recent UK policy debates, and these discussions often raise concerns about the future of young people in these towns, largely because of the limited educational and employment opportunities. Despite this, there is very little research on the impact of growing up in a coastal town on young people's experiences, attitudes, or life chances. This project will address this gap by answering four key questions: 1. (a) Does growing up in coastal towns, compared to similarly deprived areas in England and Wales, impact on the life chances of young people? (b) Do these inequalities in life chances persist over the life course or narrow in later age? 2. What are the environmental mechanisms linking growing up in a coastal town to adverse life chances in adulthood? 3. What personal attributes or experiences can help mitigate the initial drawback of growing up in a coastal town (e.g. parental support, residential mobility, or aspiration)? 4. What interventions could improve the life chances of young people in coastal communities, based (a) on the results of quasi-experimental quantitative methods and (b) on coastal residents' own views?We will address these questions using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative analysis draws on longitudinal survey data from three different generations that allow us to compare the outcomes of adolescents from the 1970s, the 1980s and the 2000s. These cohort studies enable us to consider: change over the life course (as respondents grow up and move into later adulthood); change over time (inter-generational differences); and changes in geography (intra-generational differences between coastal and non-coastal youth). We can also use these data to test potential policy solutions by applying quasi-experimental quantitative methods. The project also includes a qualitative strand that will produce original data with current residents of coastal towns. In 6 coastal towns in England and Wales we will talk to younger and older residents about their experiences of growing up in coastal towns and their views about the opportunities and aspirations for young people in the town. Residents will also be asked for their views of what their town needs to do to improve the life chances of young people. Part of this strand will be completed using co-production methods that involve recruiting, training, and supporting young people to become Young Researchers in their community. We will also use arts-and place-based methods such as postcard-making, walking interviews and life maps. Change over time will be futher examined by comparing youth aspirations from today with those compiled in the NCDS 1969 archive of student essays. The findings from these analyses will bring new insights to academic debates as well as new policy proposals for public discussions about place-based disparities in health, wellbeing, employment, and education. Our findings will thus contribute to recent discussions about Levelling Up and addressing regional inequalities (HM Govt, 2022) as well as longer-standing discussions about equal opportunities to life chances (Field, 2010) and health inequalities (CMO, 2021). While various reports have identified the areas of concern, few advanced analyses or youth-focused solutions have been offered, and we expect that this project can contribute to filling these gaps. Local policymakers and practitioners will also benefit from a deeper understanding of how their younger and older residents view their town currently, and how they wish their town to develop in the future.