The lockdown generation: Facing multiple crises in education and the labour market

The aim of this article is to analyse the impact of both the latest education system reforms in Poland and the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational trajectories and the labour market situation of vulnerable youth. To fully grasp the complexity of the current circumstances we start with a review of research on the so-called “lockdown generation”, i.e. young people who, as a result of the pandemic, have had their participation in education and vocational training hindered for a long time due to political decisions on school closures and online education. These analyses are complemented by individual interviews with relevant stakeholders. The results of the analyses conducted so far show the disturbing effects of the current political changes and global crises on the trajectories and labour market entry of groups that are habitually considered as the most at risk of educational exclusion. We discuss the greatest barriers and new inequalities created by the current accumulation of adverse external contextual factors and pre-existing risk factors at the individual and meso levels, as well as possible systemic measures of support for young people.