Youth Long­Term Unemployment and Its Social Consequences in Italy: ‘In a World That Does Not Belong to Me’

This chapter explores the extent to which long-term unemployment can lead to social exclusion, paying particular attention to the role of material deprivation. Drawing on qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted with 19 young unemployed men and women living in the Italian city of Turin, the authors develop a ‘multilayered’ model that sheds light on the different consequences that the deprivation of basic or leisure goods can have on social isolation, coping strategies and psychological well-being. In this case study, the findings suggest that the lack of work and the inability to enter the labor market are responsible for a delayed transition to adulthood and, ultimately, for the reproduction of social inequalities.