This is a short video clip in which I talk about a live research project exploring young people’s working lives in Greater Manchester. I was invited to do the talk for a recent event at Kings College in London and it was part of a panel session about precarious work and mental health organised by Annie Irvine who is a researcher in their Welfare Reform and Mental Health Research Centre.

The panel was part of a bigger conference. Social Change, Inequality and Mental Health: Shifting the Narrative.

In the video clip, I explain the rationale for our research into young people’s working lives in Greater Manchester. We are focusing on those who have insecure working conditions and exploring how young people view the impact of the pandemic. Part of my inspiration to do the project was David Blustein’s book The Importance of Work in an Age of Uncertainty. Thank you David!

We are still collecting data for the project (and will be until later in the summer) but mental health and wellbeing issues are something we want to explore. As a researcher and former careers practitioner, I am motivated to understand the challenges faced by young people and also to find out how they improvise and adapt to what is a very disrupted labour market. We plan to create recommendations for policy and practice based on our findings. My view is that as a society we should be doing much more to support young people as part of post-pandemic recovery. This should include easy access to high quality careers advice and guidance.

Please get in touch if you are interested in finding out more – f.christie@mmu.ac.uk.