Youth Residential Situation in the Transition to Adulthood: The Case of Serbia (An Exploratory Approach)
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Research undertaken on housing and youth to date primarily focus on those at the very bottom of the social ladder. Nonetheless, a large percentage of youth population around the world is facing a crisis in terms of achieving residential autonomy. This paper attempts to illustrate the possibilities and obstacles that prevent youth from achieving residential independence in Serbia. The data collected in this exploratory study conducted in 2014, on a sample of 312 respondents, is used to analyze some of the most important structural factors (job market, education, financial situation and access to the housing market) in order to assess both current situation and the possible prospects of the youth housing issue in the country. Serbia, as most Southern European countries, has a 'Mediterranean' model of transition to adulthood, which is characterized by great reliance on the family of origin. It has been observed by respondents to this study that the most represented living arrangement was living with parents and that even older cohorts (30 to 35 years old) in most cases continued living with their family of origin to date. As our findings indicate, youth from the sample perceived this residential arrangement more as a consequence of poor financial situation and lack of cheap housing, rather than a desirable choice. It is difficult to predict if there will be significant improvements in the housing affordability or job market situation for youth, therefore the prospect of achieving residential independency for generations to come will remain tremendously challenging. Investigating existing and defining new strategies, in both the family and broader society contexts, is an important task for future research on accessibility of housing and youth residential situation advancement given the importance of this factor in the transition to adulthood.
Downloads
Article Details
Published by the Institute of Social Sciences - Center for Demographic Research
References
ALLEN, J., BARLOW, J., LEAL, J., MALOUTAS, T. & PADOVANI, L. (2004). Housing and welfare in Southern Europe. Oxford: Blackwell Science.
BAIZAN, P., AASSAVE, A. & BILLARI, F. C. (2003). Cohabitation, marriage, and first birth: The interrelationship of family formation events in Spain. European Journal of Population / Revue européenne de Démographie 19(2): 147–169.
BAJIĆ, T., MANIC, B., & KOVAČEVIĆ, B. (2014). Social housing in Belgrade: Practice in architecture and urban planning competitions (2003–2014). Arhitektura i urbanizam 39: 29–43.
BEAUPRE, P., & Le BOURDAIS, C. (2001). Le départ des enfants du foyer parental au Canada. Cahiers québécois de démographie 30(1): 29–62.
BERRINGTON, A. & STONE, J. (2013). Outlining a future research agenda for studies of young adults' transitions to residential independence. Paper presented at the ''Youth Studies Conference'', Glasgow, UK, April 8–10 2013.
CLAPHAM, D. F. (2005). The Meaning of Housing: A Pathway Approach. Bristol: The Policy Press.
DRAGANIĆ, A., PAVLICA, M. & PUCAR, S. (2010). Stanogradnja za mlade: Podrškom do krova. Banja Luka: Agencija za razvoj preduzeća EDA.
DRAGIŠIĆ-LABAŠ, S. & LJUBIČIĆ, M. (2012). Between children and parents: Housing (in)dependence and "growing up". Sociologija 54(2): 263–285.
ESPING-ANDERSEN, G. (1999). Social foundations of postindustrial economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION (2014). Employment: vacancy trends reveal growing North-South divide in EU labor market. Press release. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-184_en.htm
FEIJTEN, P. & MULDER, C. H. (2005). Life-course experience and housing quality. Housing Studies 20 (4): 571–587.
FORD, J., RUGG, J. & BURROWS, R. (2002). Conceptualising the Contemporary Role of Housing in the Transition to Adult Life in England. Urban Studies 39(13): 2455–2467.
FERRERA, M. (1996). The Southern model of welfare in social Europe. Journal of European social policy 6: 17–37.
FORREST, R. & YIP, N. M. (eds.) (2012). Young people and housing: Transitions, trajectories and generational fractures. London: Routledge.
GOLDSCHEIDER, F. (2000). Why study young adult living arrangements? A view of the second demographic transition. In workshop ''Leaving Home: A European Focus''. Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock 6 (8).
GRAĐANSKE INCIJATIVE (2002). Ispitivanje položaja i potreba mladih u lokalnim zajednicama. Beograd: UG Građanske incijative. http://duskokrstic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Ispitivanje-polo%C5%BEaja-i-potreba-mladih-u-lokalnim-zajednicama.pdf
HEATH, S. (1999). Young adults and household formation in the 1990s. British journal of sociology of education 20(4): 545–561.
HEGEDUS, J., TOSICS, I. & MAYO, S. K. (1996). Transition of the housing sector in the east central European countries. Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies 8(2): 101–136.
IACOVOU, M. (2002). Regional differences in the transition to adulthood. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 580(1): 40–69.
IGNJATOVIĆ, S. (2009). Aktuelni problemi u istraživanju tranzicije u odraslost sa osvrtom na Srbiju. Stanovništvo 47(1): 7–22.
ILIŠIN, V., BOUILLET, D., GVOZDENOVIĆ, A. & POTOČNIK, D. (2013). Mladi u vremenu krize. Zagreb: Institut za društvena istraživanja i Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
KORDIĆ, L. (2008). Osvajanje Slobode: Ekonomska socijalizacija mladih u Srbiji. Novi Sad: Cenzura.
KUHAR, M. & REITER, H. (2012). Frozen transitions to adulthood of young people in Slovenia? Sociologija 54(2): 211–226.
LAVRIČ, M. (ed.). (2011). Youth 2010: The Social Profile of Young People in Slovenia. Maribor: Ministry of Education and Sports. Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth.
MANDIČ, S. (2008). Home-Leaving and its Structural Determinants in Western and Eastern Europe: An Exploratory Study. Housing Studies 23(4): 615–637.
MANDIČ, S. (2009). Stanovanjske razmere mladih. In U. B. Tatjana Rakar (ed.) Med otroštvom in odraslostjo: Analiza položaja mladih v Sloveniji 2009. Ljubljana: Ministarstvo za šolstvo in šport.
MENCARINI, L., PAILHE, A., SOLAZ, A. & TANTURRI, M.-L. (2010) Two generations at home: the time cost of young adults living with their parents in France and Italy. Collegio Carlo Alberto (Working Papers Series Ed. 179).
MILIĆEVIĆ, G. (2012). Ima li optimalnog nivoa odnosa cena stanova i poro-dičnih prihoda, i do kog nivoa mogu padati cene stanova u Beogradu? Beograd: Ekonomski fakultet (Working Papers 12/01).
MINISTRY OF YOUTH AND SPORTS (2008). National Youth Strategy. Belgrade: Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Serbia. http://www.youthforum.org/assets/2014/10/Serbia-EN-National-Youth-Strategy.pdf
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOP-MENT (2012). Strategy for Education Development in Serbia 2020. Belgrade: Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. http://erasmusplus.rs/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Strategy-for-Education-Development-in-Serbia-2020.pdf
MOJIĆ, D. & PETROVIĆ, I. (2013). Mladi i legitimnost društvenog poretka u Srbiji: Razmišljanja i delanja u pravcu emigracije. Sociologija 55(2): 229-244.
MORENO, A. (2012). The Transition to Adulthood in Spain in a Comparative Perspective: The Incidence of Structural Factors. Young 20 (1): 19–48.
MULDER, C. H. (2006). Home-ownership and family formation. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment 21 (3): 281–298.
NENADIĆ, M. (2011). Sociologija detinjstva. Sombor: Pedagoški fakultet Sombor.
OECD (2004). Employment outlook 2004. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. http://www.oecd.org/els/emp/oecdemploymentoutlook2004.htm
PETROVIĆ, M. (2004). Sociologija stanovanja. Beograd: Institut za sociološka istraživanja Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu.
QUINTINI, G. & MARTIN, S. (2006). Starting well or losing their way? The position of youth in the labour market in OECD Countries. OECD Publishing: OECD Social, Employment and Migration (Working Papers 39).
ROBERTS, A. (2003). Privatization and rent deregulation in Eastern Europe. Housing Change in East and Central Europe: Integration or Fragmentation, 45-62.
RZS (2012). Labor Force Survey. Beograd: Republički zavod za statistiku.
STANOJEVIĆ, D. & TOMANOVIĆ, S. (2011). Changes in economic status of young people in Serbia between 2003 and 2011. Paper presented at the Regional Research Promotion Programme in the Western Balkans (RRPP).
TELESKOVIĆ, A. (2012). Tri ekonomska zla Srbije. Dnevni list Politika, 17. avgust.
TOMANOVIĆ, S. & IGNJATOVIĆ, S. (2004).Young People in Transition: Between Family of Origin and Family of Orientation. In M. Nikolić & S. K. Mihailović (eds.). Young People Lost in Transition. Belgrade: Center for Policy Studies. 39-65.
TOMANOVIĆ, S. & IGNJATOVIĆ, S. (2006). Attitudes on transition to adulthood among young people in Serbia. Sociologija 48 (1): 55–72.
TOMANOVIĆ, S., STANOJEVIĆ, D., JARIĆ, I., MOJIĆ, D., DRAGIŠIĆ-LABAŠ, S., LJUBIČIĆ, M. & ŽIVADINOVIĆ, I. (2012). Young People are present. The Study on Social Biographies of Young People in Serbia. Beograd: Institut za sociološka istraživanja. Čigoja štampa.
URBANISTIČKI ZAVOD BEOGRADA (2003). Generalni Plan Beograda 2021. Beograd: Službeni list grada Beograda 27.
VESIĆ, U., KOSTIĆ, T. & KRSTIĆ-FURUNDŽIĆ, A. (2013). Social Housing in Serbia: Dual Approach. Paper presented at the REAL CORP 2013 Tagungsband, Rome, Italy.
WHITE, L. (1994). Coresidence and leaving home: Young adults and their parents. Annual review of sociology, 81–102.