John Goodwin – författare

First published in 1999, this volume took part in the emerging sociological debate on gender in the workplace by studying men’s work, lives, gender roles and psychological health through the gender lens. Recent changes in the labour market, not least the marked increase of women at work, have been argued to have led to a crisis of masculinity and a re-evaluation of men’s roles. This book has four main aims: to establish that there is a real absence of an empirical understanding of men in British gender-based sociological research; to explore men’s recent experiences of the British labour market; to explore how masculinity and work are linked and maintained by critically examining existing accounts of gender theory and feminism; and finally to provide an empirical account of men''s work and male lives via an analysis of existing data. The male workers were identified in the National Child Development Study 1991 and compared with male full-time workers and similar groups of women in the same study. Five areas of these men''s lives were explored empirically: characteristics of male workers in NCDS5; men’s attitudes to work; men and training experiences; men and household work; and finally men and mental ill health. The book concludes that the nature of men’s work needs to be reconsidered and that the nature of gender research, particularly that relating to men, needs to be expanded and made more explicit.

First published in 1999, this volume took part in the emerging sociological debate on gender in the workplace by studying men’s work, lives, gender roles and psychological health through the gender lens. Recent changes in the labour market, not least the marked increase of women at work, have been argued to have led to a crisis of masculinity and a re-evaluation of men’s roles. This book has four main aims: to establish that there is a real absence of an empirical understanding of men in British gender-based sociological research; to explore men’s recent experiences of the British labour market; to explore how masculinity and work are linked and maintained by critically examining existing accounts of gender theory and feminism; and finally to provide an empirical account of men''s work and male lives via an analysis of existing data. The male workers were identified in the National Child Development Study 1991 and compared with male full-time workers and similar groups of women in the same study. Five areas of these men''s lives were explored empirically: characteristics of male workers in NCDS5; men’s attitudes to work; men and training experiences; men and household work; and finally men and mental ill health. The book concludes that the nature of men’s work needs to be reconsidered and that the nature of gender research, particularly that relating to men, needs to be expanded and made more explicit.

Levels of suffering among young people have always been much higher than governments suggest. Indeed, policies aimed at young workers have often been framed in ways that help secure conformity to a new employment landscape in which traditional securities have been progressively removed. Increasingly punitive welfare regimes have resulted in new hardships, especially among young women and those living in depressed labour markets.

Framed by the ideas of Norbert Elias, Young People in the Labour Market challenges the idea that changing economic landscapes have given birth to a ‘Precariat’ and argues that labour insecurity is more deep-rooted and complex than others have suggested. Focusing on young people and the ways in which their working lives have changed between the 1980s recession and the Great Recession of 2008/2009 and its immediate aftermath, the book begins by drawing attention to trends already emerging in the preceding two decades.

Drawing on data originally collected during the 1980s recession and comparing it to contemporary data drawn from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, the book explores the ways in which young people have adjusted to the changes, arguing that life satisfaction and optimism are linked to labour market conditions.

A timely volume, this book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers who are interested in fields such as Sociology, Social Policy, Management and Youth Studies.

Levels of suffering among young people have always been much higher than governments suggest. Indeed, policies aimed at young workers have often been framed in ways that help secure conformity to a new employment landscape in which traditional securities have been progressively removed. Increasingly punitive welfare regimes have resulted in new hardships, especially among young women and those living in depressed labour markets.

Framed by the ideas of Norbert Elias, Young People in the Labour Market challenges the idea that changing economic landscapes have given birth to a ‘Precariat’ and argues that labour insecurity is more deep-rooted and complex than others have suggested. Focusing on young people and the ways in which their working lives have changed between the 1980s recession and the Great Recession of 2008/2009 and its immediate aftermath, the book begins by drawing attention to trends already emerging in the preceding two decades.

Drawing on data originally collected during the 1980s recession and comparing it to contemporary data drawn from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, the book explores the ways in which young people have adjusted to the changes, arguing that life satisfaction and optimism are linked to labour market conditions.

A timely volume, this book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers who are interested in fields such as Sociology, Social Policy, Management and Youth Studies.