Becoming Adult: conceptions of futures and wellbeing among migrant young people in the UK is a three-year ESRC-funded project (October 2014–September 2017). The study will enhance understanding about:

• The lived experiences of young men and women who migrated alone to the UK as children as they make the transition to ‘adulthood’
• How young people in this situation understand and seek to realise their futures and maintain a sense of wellbeing
• The extent to which there is a fit between young people’s conceptualisations of their futures and the immigration and social care policies governing their lives

The study involves young people from Albania, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Vietnam

The research consists of three closely linked work packages:

Young people’s conceptions of futures and wellbeing
In-depth longitudinal work; biographical narrative interviews; social network mapping; monitoring wellbeing outcomes

Cultural conceptions of futures and wellbeing
Analysis of different cultural media (including poetry, music, soap operas, fictional literature, social media and oral histories) and how (if at all) they influence young people’s decisions and actions

Policy conceptions of futures and wellbeing
Analysis of policies; interviews with international, national and local stakeholders; documentary analysis of ‘pathway plans’; generating a national profile of outcomes for former independent migrant children transitioning to ‘adulthood’