Student Lives in Crisis

Download or read book Student Lives in Crisis written by Lorenza Antonucci and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2016-09-21 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The greatest social change in Europe during the last twenty years is that almost half of Europe's young people now attend college. Yet despite these unprecedented levels of university attendance, the lived experiences of students remain largely undocumented. Focusing on the effects of the financial crisis and austerity, this empirically grounded analysis compares the lives of university students from three very different European welfare systems: Italy, England, and Sweden. By contrasting access to welfare support--in connection with the role of families, the state, and the labor market postgraduation--Student Lives in Crisis exposes the students' often overlooked social realities, as well as the impact of their shared experience of financial uncertainty. Drawing on questionnaires and first person interviews, Lorenza Antonucci reveals the misconceptions behind many higher education policies in Europe, demonstrating that university participation exacerbates rather than ameliorates inequalities among young people from different social backgrounds.