Does cultural capital affect how young people cope with the crisis?

The impact of the economic crisis has been huge, not only at the national level, but also on the social structure of individuals and families, imposing a change in everyday consumption practices and in the visions and plans for the future. This condition is particularly true for young people, who can no longer rely, as it happened in previous generations, on rising expectations for their future. The paper presents the results of a qualitative study aimed at understanding how young people perceive and handle their everyday life in a social and working context so heavily influenced by income uncertainty, job insecurity and a general lack of confidence in the future. The research hypotheses concern the influence of the cultural capital (measured mainly through the level of instruction), as well as the difference of gender, class and social stratification, on everyday practices of young people, and on their interpersonal relationship and ability to plan for the future. Face to face in depth interviews have been conducted on a sample of young people aged between 18 and 30, in the area of Milan, with a different educational path (professional school vs university) and coming from families with different economic e cultural background. The first results highlight that gender, class and cultural capital do indeed affect the perception of the crisis and, consequently, the necessary coping strategies and visions of the future.