Contenu du sommaire : Autonomie et dépendance financière des jeunes.

It is at the level of the family that the symbolic construction of the role of money in society is most directly perceived : which differentiates youth money from adult money. Other actors : the State, the bank, the media help confirm and complete this dual image. The deposit in a post office or a bank account is a special moment during which the symbolism of the money of young people takes on this dual register. On the one hand, a computerised currency with stable sources which is self-regenerating and on the other the currency of fundamental needs. The board and lodging provided by parents, the basic minimum salary, benefits, courses, scholarships ...are all part of the juvenilisation of those excluded from the exercice of complete adulthood Of those who are condemned to "pocket money", which does not lead to the adult symbolism of money.

The 18-25 year old stratum is changing both through negative elements (family crisis, high youth unemployment) and more positive elements, such as the progress in schooling. Young people remain at home with their families for longer and have a very positive attitude towards them. Should young people be encouraged towards greater autonomy by giving them a special social status or by better supporting their family ? The autor opts for the second solution as a more pragmatic line to take. This requires the "enactment" of the family law of 25 July 1994 which at the end of the five year plan schedules an increase to 22 years of the age limitas a family dependent. He also wonders about providing new benefits to older children, which would be a near equivalent to the chil- drens' allowance for the under 3's. He considers that our family policy should have two "peaks" : early childhood and the zone adolescent-older children, young adults.

Currently in France, young people are experiencing a generalised state of social insecurity. The 18 to 25 year olds, the students, employees, trainees and the unemployed are globally the poorest in the country. This has a direct effect on the state of their physical and moral health. Twenty years after acquiring the majority at eighteen, this still does not exist in the social sector. There is no adequation between the civil and social majority. The Federation of Insurance Companies proposes the implementation, based on three principles : autonomy, universality, globality, of a youth social security so that this population can live in social security. It will be materialized by the institution of a youth branch which will cover the risks inherent to this age range, such as poverty. Benefits will be granted in particular, and without expecting any return, to those young people with insufficient resources to live. These benefits, which are not to be a new minimum at the level of the basic mimum salary will enable young people to live decently and autonomously, to train, improve their skills and seek employment.

In 1975, faced with the obvious consequences of the status of "young people" and the reversal of the employment market, the government laid the foundation stone to an edifice which it certainly did not expect to last. The continuing difficulties, an unhoped for social and political "calm" led to and consolidated, at the expense of both the young and the elderly, a form of short term management of the social consequences of the economic organisation which was being operated. The fringe of the active population had to absorb and did absorb, without toppling the base, the induced tensions of the new conditions of exercice of a salaried activity resulting from this redistribution of productive activities. The compromise which enabled France to emerge from the post war slump was "globally" conserved. In 1995, after twenty years of day to day management of the difficulties, the edifice can no longer take yet anather "face lift". The ceaseless construction of new categories to "fill up the cracks" should perhaps stand aside at last ? Surely the time has come for a redefinition of the meaning of the procedures for the "inclusion of disadvantaged young people ?"

For young people from disadvantaged communities the act of consumerism is a non-negligeable opportunity to test out the role of sub-citizen which is currently attributed to them. The theoretical equality of rights to consumerism is more or less obliterated depending on the manner in which managers of large shopping surfaces perceive young people. The latter often globally identify them as potential delinquents simply because they belong to that particular age group. This makes way for the image of a commercial era of youth which further outlines habitual exclusion but which must nevertheless be considered as an impediment to the accessing of citizenship by young people.

Several thousand young adults are permanently on the move at present in France. They claim to be the voluntary actors of a life style which they have willingly adopted. They assemble in large numbers for music or drama festivals, and such gatherings pose problems of hospitality and of policing in the festival towns. An action-survey has been conducted for several years on these young people. It is structured round approaches based on an understanding of this public (ethnology, sociology, psychology health) and grass roots actions aiming at experimenting and developing temporary forms of hospitality during the festivals. It will also suggest procedures in prevention work and social inclusion adapted to the public.

The associative process of young childrens'/youth organisations in the Czech Republic has endured, in the course of this century, frequent and substantial changes the consequences of which are still currently to be observed. For both internal and external reasons the overall impact of organisations has been weakened ; membership potential has dropped from 45 % of the total youth population before November 1989 to 15 % at the present time. This situation has also been complicated by the existence of several coordinating and lead bodies who only work together on certain questions. This state of affairs is likely to remain. In future years organisations will need to rise to the challenge, offer young children and young people an especially attractive programme, set up a training system for the leaders, concentrate on developing the network of clubs and improve their social image.

All too frequently for adults, especially for parents, the cinema for a young public is restricted to Walt Disney animated films. The cinema as an art form, as a window on the world, despite the endeavours of certain to affirm this, tends to be forgotten, as are the numerous films which respect the intelligence, the sensitivity and the dignity of the child. At a time when the cinema runs the risk of being tumed into a simple market product, it is perhaps important to wonder about the meaning to give those images which are shown to children, particuarly via the question of the "cinema for children".