Impact of COVID-19 on youth

Though data about the effects of the COVID-19 virus on youth are still relatively scarce this chapter attempts to illuminate the resulting disruptions of young people’s lives Pre-existing social problems become more visible in young people, impacting on the families’ capacity to respond to the effect of the virus on their living circumstances and mental health. Coping with the lockdown measures created tensions in families who have to adapt to school closures, working at home-office, short-term employment and the threat of unemployment. In such situations young adults’ life plans become increasingly uncertain. The longer such a situation lasts the greater is the need for policy intervention in order to prevent unrecoverable transition breakdowns. The surge in distress and mental illness signal the possibilities of long term life course damage.