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CHAPTER TWO SITUATING 'YOUNG PEOPLE': LINKS BETWEEN YOUNGER AND OLDER SECTIONS OF THE POPULATION

Chapter aims

This chapter addresses the following questions:

• To what extent are young people linked to other sections of the population, both through household structure and broader social contact?
• In particular, what is the nature and extent of links between the youngest and the oldest sections of the population?
• Are there differences in levels of adult contact with 11 to 15 year-olds and 16 to 24 year-olds? And what is the nature of the contact between those groups?

Introduction

Before looking in any detail at adult perceptions of young people and youth crime, this chapter considers briefly the extent of contact that adults actually have with young people There are two main reasons for doing this. First, there is a widely-held hypothesis that opportunities for inter-generational contact (and, in particular, for contact between the youngest and oldest sections of the population) are reducing as a result of changes in the structure of families and communities. The survey allows us to examine this issue to a limited extent - though there is a pressing need for time-series data here. Secondly, it seems reasonable to assume that the level of contact that adults have with younger people will, in some way, shape their views and perceptions of young people in general.

Blurred lines: children, young people and young adults

Although it is common to set up a clear distinction between 'young people' and 'adults', two important points are worth noting. First, there is usually a degree of overlap between the two groups. For example, as the SSA sample is based on adults aged 18 and over, it includes a sub-group (11% of the total) who are themselves 'young people' according to the definition outlined in the introduction.

Secondly, there is much less continuity of experience among 11-24 year-olds than the blanket term 'young people' might suggest. Most obviously, nearly all 11 to 15 year-olds will be living at home and attending school; many of those between the ages of 16 and 24, of course, will have left home and entered the worlds of employment, higher or further education, or parenthood. Moreover, in terms of youth crime and disorder, the issues will tend to be very different for the two groups: for 11 to 15 year-olds, the main concerns will tend to relate to vandalism and other petty offending, often associated with 'hanging around the streets'; for 16 to 24 year-olds, concern is more likely to focus on late night drinking and disorder, and on more serious forms of substance misuse and offending. Nor should we assume that there is actually a great deal of contact between these groups of 'younger young people' and 'older young people' - a theme we return to below.

Households containing young people

Apart from those respondents who themselves are aged under 25, a degree of inter-generational contact is, of course, ensured by household structure. In other words, 25% of all adults (aged 18 and over) share their household either with someone aged 11 to 15 (11%) or aged 16 to 24 (17%).

Not surprisingly, however, such links are heavily structured by age and life stage. For example, 27% of respondents aged 35 to 44 currently live in a household with an 11 to 15 year-old, compared with none of those interviewed for the survey who were aged 65 and over. Respondents who are themselves aged under 25 are more likely than any other age group to live with other 16 to 24 year-olds (44%).

Figure 1 - Proportion of respondents with young people resident in household

Contact with young people outside the household

Apart from anyone they live with, respondents were asked how often they would chat to or talk with anybody aged 11 to 15 and 16 to 24. Overall, the results suggest that most adults would have reason to chat to or talk with young people in both age groups at least once a month. Perhaps not surprisingly, given the narrower age band, adults were more likely to say that they would talk 'less often or never' to 11 to 15 year-olds (42%) than to 16 to 24 year-olds (28%), though this may also reflect a genuine difference in actual opportunities for contact (relating to employment, for example).

Table 1 - How often talk to or chat with young people outside the household

But while a reasonable proportion of adults say that they would tend to have such contact with younger people every day or almost every day, this group is matched by those who say they would have such contact less than once a month or never. Around 4 out of 10 adults fall into this group in relation to 11 to 15 year-olds (42%), while 3 out of 10 (28%) do so in relation to 16-24 year-olds.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, those aged 65 and over are the group most likely to have little or no contact with both 11 to 15 (55%) and 16 to 24 year olds (55%). But it would be wrong to assume that the level of contact between different age groupings is determined simply by proximity in terms of age: a relatively high proportion of 18 to 24 year olds (39%) also have little or no contact with 11 to 15 year olds.

Figure 2- Proportion of respondents talking to young people less often than once a month or never

Of course, chatting to or talking with young people may occur in the course of fleeting, everyday interactions ( e.g. at work, in shops, etc.) and may not indicate strong or meaningful social links. A slightly better indicator of this comes from a series of questions about whether or not adults knew the young people in their area 'well enough to speak to'.

Again, the results can be read both positively and negatively. Over two-thirds say they know some or most of the 11 to 24 year-olds in their area well enough to speak to (72%). Around one in six (16%) know most of the 11 to 15 year olds well enough to speak to, while 18% say the same of 16 to 24 year-olds. On the other hand, the proportion of adults who know 'none' is significantly greater than the proportion who know 'most or all' - 44% of adults say that they know none of the 11 to 15 year-olds in their area, and 39% that they known none of the 16 to 24 year-olds. If inter-generational conflict is borne out of a lack of contact, then this clearly leaves plenty of scope for it to happen.

Figure 3- Proportion of respondents who know young people in their area well enough to speak to

The following table shows variations in contact by key demographic variables. The key things to note here are that:

• Men are more likely than women to know none of the 11 to 15 year-olds in their area well enough to speak to - probably because they play a less significant role in childcare.
• The youngest age group (18 to 24 year-olds) are no more likely than the oldest (65 and over) to know most of the 11 to 15 year-olds in their area. They are, however, much more likely to know most of the young people aged 16 to 24.
• Those sharing a household with someone aged 11 to 15 are more than twice as likely as those who do not to know most of the young people in that age group. Similarly, those sharing with a 16 to 24 year-old are twice as likely to know most of the young people in that age group.
• Those living in remote rural areas are much more likely to indicate that they know most of the 11 to 15 year-olds and the 16 to 24 year-olds in their area.
• There was no significant difference between respondents living in areas of most and least deprivation.

Table 2 - Proportion of respondents who know young people in their area well enough to speak to, by key variables

Note: Some categories not shown for reasons of space

Key points from this chapter

• 'Young people' and adults are not entirely distinct groups - 11% of the (weighted) SSA sample were themselves aged between 18 and 24.
• Contact between different age groups is partly structured by generational and family relationships - those aged between 35 and 54 are most likely to be parents and so are relatively more likely to share their household with a young person.
• A sizeable minority of the adult population has little or no social contact with young people. Four in ten adults say they would talk to or chat with 11 to 15 year-olds less often than once a month or never, while three in ten say the same of 16 to 24 year-olds.
• The difference between the oldest age group and other sections of the adult population is more marked in relation to 16 to 24 year-olds than in relation to 11 to 15 year-olds.
• Men are more likely than women to know none of the 11 to 15 year-olds in their area - probably because they play a less significant role in childcare.
• Those living in remote rural areas are much more likely to know most of the young people in their area.

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