The Needs of Youth

Abstract

THE raising of the school-leaving age is only one of the factors which in recent years have directed special attention to the welfare of the adolescent. Reports from the Commissioners for the Special Areas have evinced concern at the effect of prolonged unemployment on the juvenile worker, and the situation has prompted attempts at amelioration such as the juvenile transference scheme and the junior instruction centres. Social surveys, such as the work of the Social Science Department of the University of Liverpool on population problems of new estates, have directed attention to educational and labour problems involved in the decline of the juvenile population, and to the need for industry to concern itself more closely with questions of recruitment. The annual reports of the Chief Inspector of Factories continue to emphasize the alarming proportion of preventable accidents among young workers, and the need for greater training and care for the young recruit to industry. The question has also, been examined from the point of view of nutrition, as in the University of Bristol social survey of the standard of living in Bristol, or of general physical fitness from the point of view of the National Fitness Council, or the demands of national service. The present concern with the question of juvenile delinquency is yet a further factor, possibly less serious than some are inclined to fear. The Needs of Youth A Report made to King George's Jubilee Trust Fund. By Dr. A. E. Morgan. Pp. xi + 434 + 8 plates. (London: Oxford University Press, 1939.) 10s. net.