Spaced Out? Young People on Social Housing Estates: Social Exclusion and Multi-agency Work

There is a growing recognition that, across Europe, a number of demographic trends and social policies have combined to spatially cluster social and economic disadvantage on particular housing estates. In the UK, this has been addressed by a number of reports by the Social Exclusion Unit set up by the New Labour Government. The Unit is also spearheading a more holistic approach to 'youth policy' issues, promoting more evidence-based and 'joined-up solutions' to what it identifies as 'joined-up problems'. This paper reviews statistical evidence from two large data sets on the circumstances of young people living in the most deprived circumstances on social housing estates. It also reports on qualitative research that specifically examined multi-agency partnerships in attempting to meet young people's needs. It further explores the impact of practical youth projects, many of which have sought to reverse processes of social exclusion through multi-agency work and examines the limitations and advantages of such approaches.