I came of age when tuition fees were negligible, jobs felt abundant and a night out didn’t cost the equivalent of a month’s rent. Working-class heroes created Britpop and the Young British Artists movement, and it felt like anything was possible as I looked out from high school to the optimistic and democratic world in front of me.
Taking the first steps from the sanctuary of school to the big wide world has always been unnerving, but I am sure for those taking their first steps into the outside world today, it is even more daunting.
We hear it constantly – that the young are losing faith. Polls suggest that growing numbers feel disillusioned with democracy with some polls even saying they would rather see strong, authoritarian leadership. University fees remain daunting, degrees no longer carry the certainty they once did, graduate schemes are thinning out, and more than a third of UK teenagers worry that artificial intelligence will shrink the job market before they have even entered it.
The Apr-Jun issue of Positive News magazine is about the long, uneven journey from childhood to adulthood and the people and ideas helping to light that path.
In schools, there are projects that go beyond teaching the mechanics of democracy and instead encourage pupils to practise it. Having a say. Disagreeing well. Understanding that a voice carries responsibility as well as rights. Alongside this are programmes that widen horizons early – overseas volunteering, community arts initiatives, mentoring schemes – initiatives to enable people not shy away from the outside world but to engage with it in a constructive and positive way.
It’s surely no coincidence that we are seeing a return in popularity of the most traditional of businesses in the age of AI. Market stall retail is re-emerging as an appealing career path for youngsters, one that engages with the inner entrepreneur. And with 34% of 16 to 24-year-olds reportedly running a side hustle, this generation is proving remarkably entrepreneurial. For some, a trestle table and a card reader are the first steps towards independence.
Creativity, too, is at a crossroads. Funding pressures, rising living costs and the rapid advance of AI risk turning the arts into a pursuit only the financially secure can afford. Our cover story looks at schemes across Europe offering a form of universal basic income to artists – not as charity, but as recognition that creative work needs time and stability to develop.
We are all at different stages of that journey, but wherever we sit it is important that we don’t just protect our own futures and that there is support for the next generation. To not just ensure they are contributing to society but to help it grow, flourish and blossom into one we want to live in.
Cover image: Denis Vahey
