Mikutavičienė, Inga

The study “Youth and Housing in Lithuania: Different Opportunities, Pathways and Challenges” aims to disclose the situation of youth housing provision in the conditions of a liberal housing policy in Lithuania and to identify the scope of housing deprivation and the housing policy constraint with regard to the youth group. The main problems facing young people in the context of housing provision include the availability, rental of decent housing and the lack of independence from parents, the unstable housing market and constantly rising housing prices, limited access to high-quality housing, etc. It should be noted that in the context of housing policy, youth is not sufficiently prioritized group, and a significant part of young people are residing in less stable forms of accommodation (living with parents, friends, dormitory, rental housing in the private sector, social housing). Authors of study look into different theoretical approaches about housing provision for the youth, factors affecting youth housing provision and analysis of current trends in terms of the recent demographic changes. Important part of the study is dedicated to discuss the role of welfare state in the housing sector and particularities of post-socialist housing policies in Eastern and Central European countries and in Lithuania. The study is based on research methodology and the analysis of empiric data and research strategy combining both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and methods. The research object is 18–35 years old young persons in Lithuania and occupying different housing estates: privately owned, privately rented and social housing. The method of survey research (as a quantitative methodology) and the in-depth interview (as a method of qualitative methodology) allowed Lithuanian youth to express their views on the housing provision issues in Lithuania.

In Lithuania, social housing is still unresolved topic both in science and policy. Currently, the unfavorable socioeconomic situation in the country prevents young adults from owning or renting housing. While the number of families in need, multi-child families and other risk groups has been increasing, the demand for social housing also grew. Furthermore, residing in a social housing is still associated with some challenges and difficulties because it is often located in the areas inhabited bya number of socially disadvantaged families. The article focusesonboth the experiences, hopes and expectations of young adults who live in social housing and the Lithuanian state’s role in social housing provision. Ten semi-structured interviews with 18–29 year old young adults residing in social housing demonstrate that the respondents experienced a difficult transition to an independent stage of life because oftheir parents’ disadvantaged socio-economic background. On the one hand, their parents could not financially support these young people, therefore, they had to apply for social housing. On the other hand, the Lithuanian state was also not able to provide them with a better access to housing. It should also be emphasized that these young people from the disadvantaged family backgrounds adjusted to the culture of poverty: they accepted deprivation as a natural state difficult to overcome. The study also demonstrates the dysfunctional housing policy in Lithuania characterized by the limited access to social housing and the inefficient system of loans for buying housing.

This article presents analysis of employer’s expectation and young workers selection criteria in Lithuania1. It discusses the research data of employers’ survey in Lithuania. The purpose of the article is to disclose employer’s expectations and young workers selection criteria in Lithuania. Representative employers’ survey data was carried out in 2013. The employers (N=829) representing private, public sector, and nongovernmental organisations were participated in the survey. The survey results revealed, that employers prefer to hire younger employees, who in addition to the standard package of necessary employability characteristics (higher education or vocational education diploma, knowledge of foreign languages, ICT skills, working experience, etc.) also possess the following strong personal characteristics e.g. intelligence, social competence, motivation, autonomy, creativity and an ability to learn rapidly at the workplace.

In recent decades, an increasing negative impact of stress, on quality of working life is evident. Stress affects a variety of health, emotional problems, increasing costs of the organization and the national economy as a whole. This article presents a comprehensive, holistic approach to working stress. Stress phenomenon conditioned by the social macro context, organizational level, and the individual and private environmental factors as a whole.[...]