Continuity and change: the employment orientation of contemporary marginalised working-class young men

Gater, Richard 2025. Continuity and change: the employment orientation of contemporary marginalised working-class young men. Work, Employment and Society 10.1177/09500170251375724

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Abstract

Youth unemployment is increasing and disproportionately affects marginalised working-class young men, a subgroup commonly associated with manual employment aspirations and protest masculinity. Despite the detrimental impact of youth unemployment on this demographic and recent research exploring their masculine identity, there remains a limited understanding of their current employment aspirations. Drawing on a qualitative study conducted in the South Wales Valleys, UK, this article seeks to fill the knowledge gap by examining the employment orientation of marginalised working-class young men. The findings reveal both continuity and change in the understanding of this subgroup’s employment aspirations. Continuity includes a protest masculine-related rejection of certain service sector work and an attraction to manual employment influenced by familial socialisation. Change is observed through an interest in non-manual work, which for some participants appears to stem from what is described as a rupturing process, or significant social influences that destabilise working-class masculine modes of being.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Research Institutes & Centres > Centre for Adult Social Care Research (CARE)
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	0950-0170
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 October 2025
Date of Acceptance:	31 July 2025
Last Modified:	27 Oct 2025 11:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/181900

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