Outline and Evaluate the View That free essay sample

Outline and evaluate the view that youth culture is created by the economy (33) Youth culture is the way in which youths behave and act in society. It is the stereotypical behaviour and look that people decide to link with teenagers. Youth culture is created by many different things in society one of which is the economy. The economy has a huge influence on the creation of youth culture. It benefits majorly from the youth being better educated and more mature, due to this the school leaving age has been extended. As a way to keep young people in education for longer the government has started to pay EMA to those whose families have low income. Young people are also the ideal people to fill the part time jobs within the economy as they are desperate for the maturity and chance to earn their own money. Due to the economy many young people have more money to spend, this then causes the development in Youth Culture. We will write a custom essay sample on Outline and Evaluate the View That or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Also globalisation could have a major influence of the formation of youth culture. As nowadays young people are influenced by products and different worldwide trends coming over from places all over the world. This is nothing new but recently has become more popular with things such as Hollister and Superdry coming over from America and Japan, but back in the 1950’s Teddy Boys and Girls were also influenced by the American style. Todays influences don’t just come from America they come from worldwide as many things are being imported from places like China, India and Europe. Globalisation has played a huge role in the development of hybrid subcultures. It is very closely linked with style as style is a key feature in the UK. Style is critical to all subcultures, it is what shows off their individality. Hippies, Punks and Teddy Boys wouldn’t be noticable without style. Polhemus 1997 said â€Å"we see a society where what you wear, how you wear it and where it is from all matter†. Although if it wasn’t for a healthy economy youth would not be able to afford the new styles and trends. Media could play a huge part in the creation of youth culture. The media advertises things such as music and fashion and influences the views of youth. Magazines have a big impact on femininity and have been hugely popular since the 1970. Magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Vogue are mainly targeted at a younger audience. Tv Channels are also targeted at a younger audience and programmes are beginning to influence the behaviour of youth. Thorton 1995 claims that the media are largerly responsible for the creation of youth culture and subcultures. Young people gain knowledge about different subcultures and youth cultures through the different forms of media such as television, internet and music. This brings high status to the youth of today which makes the economy look good. It could also be argued that consumption plays a part in the creation of youth culture. Young people are constantly targeted by companies due to the money they have to spend on consumer and leisure based goods. The consumption of youth has spread widely as the accessibility to the high street and internet has made it a lot easier to shop. Consumption is very closely linked to economy because if it wasn’t for the economy the youth would not have the money to spend on certain goods. Education could also have a big impact on the creation of youth culture due to the fact it is where most of the socialisation happens for young people. The school leaving age got raised to 15 after the second world war and in 1972 got raised to 16, where it remains. Although during the 21st century there is reason to believe it will be raised again to 17/18. The reason for this was not only for having better educated young people but also to keep young people out of the workplace and off the unemployment statistics. By raising the school leaving age teenagers have more and more time to spend with their friends and socialise. This means that there is more chance for youth culture to develop as teenagers are around their peers for longer. This also prolongs the period of youth as they don’t have to mature and grow up as quickly as they had to back in the 1960s. Demographic trends could also have a big role in the creation of youth culture. After the second world war there was a baby boom in the UK due to men and women returning from their wartime duties. There was a huge population growth in the 1940s which meant that all the babies from then were all teenagers in the 1950s and early 60s. This was also the time in which the youth culture was first noted. This was also at the end of the war when there were no more rationings and the country was forever growing, people had money as there was an increasing number of jobs and new trends were beginning to grow. This meant the teenagers of the time all started to dress in a certain way which was different to before. However this is also linked back to the economy, as the economy was in a healthier state leading to the demographic trends. The economy played a huge part in the creation of youth culture. It was closely linked with all the factors involved in the development of youth culture. If it wasn’t for a healthy economy youth wouldn’t have the money to spend on things. There also wouldn’t be trends coming in from America which influence the youth cultures and sub cultures. Although all factors play a big role in creating youth culture.