Childhood & Youth and Politics

Childhood and youth studies is a multidisciplinary field that takes children and young people as its central subject, examining their lives, experiences, and wellbeing from multiple perspectives. Drawing on sociology, social policy, history, psychology, and cultural studies, it asks fundamental questions about how childhood is defined and experienced, how young people navigate social institutions, and how policies and practices affecting children are shaped and evaluated. Politics, as a companion discipline, adds the analytical tools needed to understand power, governance, and the decision-making processes that determine what resources and protections children and young people receive.

At Liverpool Hope University, this four-year full-time programme begins with a foundation year, providing a supported introduction to degree-level study before you move into the main programme. You will explore the issues and challenges that children and young people face in the UK and internationally, from education and welfare policy to questions of identity, agency, and rights. The political science element of the degree equips you to analyse the structures and processes that shape these issues, including how advocacy and policy change happen.

The programme also includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement, providing substantial practical and international experience alongside your academic study.

Graduates from childhood and youth combined with politics programmes are well prepared for careers in the public, voluntary, and community sectors. Social work and social care, youth work, education, policy analysis, government and local authority roles, advocacy organisations, and international development agencies working with children are all common destinations. The political dimension of the degree is particularly useful for those who want to work on policy change or advocacy, or to pursue careers in public administration.

Postgraduate options include social work training, public policy, youth and community work, and research programmes in education or social science.