The leisure and work occupations of young people: A review

This article presents perspectives on leisure, work and relationships between work and leisure, in relation to young people. It argues that leisure is a complex phenomenon and affords young people an arena to experiment, to take risks and to face challenges. Its dimensions of time, occupation, and experience offer opportunities for relaxation, personal development, anti‐leisure and serious leisure. Leisure is shaped by social factors and a culture of consumption. Young people are targeted as consumers of leisure not only through goods, but also by packages of experience. The work‐leisure relationship shows how paid occupations influence leisure. In times of high unemployment and underemployment, the quality of leisure may be diminished and its quantity reduced, but young people learn to cope with deprivation, impermanence and temporary relationships in new and emerging ways of living.