The older generation often describe the youth of today as "the strawberry generation", a label that carries the perception of them as easily bruised, self-absorbed, entitled, pampered, lazy and overconfident.

However, each generation is shaped by the social, political, and economic conditions of the day — and is also subject to the disdain of older people.

What makes this generation of Singapore youth unique is that they are coming of age during the Covid-19 pandemic. At a stage when they are making the key transition into adulthood, they have been confronted by the greatest crisis of our time.

We are lead researchers in Youth STEPS, a six-year longitudinal study by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Social Lab and the National Youth Council (NYC) on youth transitions and pathways. Preliminary findings of the ongoing study — which started in 2017 — were shared recently at NYC's inaugural National Youth Dialogue ("Social support, engaging on national issues among young people's concerns: Survey", The Straits Times, July 23).


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Chew Han Ei is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), National University of Singapore, and Vincent Chua is associate professor at the department of sociology and anthropology there. Both are lead researchers at Youth STEPS, a six-year longitudinal study by the IPS Social Lab and the National Youth Council on youth transitions and pathways.

Top photo from Unsplash.