‘Levelling UP’ has taken on considerable significance in the policy discourses of the Johnson conservative government, particularly regarding the English regions. However, what is meant by Levelling up has been far from clear, although if it is to mean anything it must at least in part mean addressing the needs of disadvantaged and left behind communities. Key premises of this paper are that young people must be considered valued members of those communities; and that, to meet their expressed needs, youth work can be the best placed service for (re)investment, not least because it has demonstrated that it consistently enables a wide variety of outcomes in their lives. The investment required must be seen in the context of the huge austerity cuts to youth services in England which disproportionately affected disadvantaged communities. To make the case for ‘levelling up’ to completely rebuild as well as further develop those services. This paper brings together an analysis of past and current youth policies with a range of relevant empirical data.

中文翻译：

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青年、青年工作和“升级”政策议程

“Leveling UP”在约翰逊保守政府的政策话语中具有相当重要的意义，尤其是在英国地区方面。然而，“升级”的含义远未明确，尽管如果它意味着任何东西，它必须至少部分地意味着解决弱势和落后社区的需求。本文的主要前提是必须将年轻人视为这些社区的重要成员；并且，为了满足他们表达的需求，青年工作可以成为（再）投资的最佳服务，尤其是因为它已经证明它始终能够在他们的生活中带来各种各样的结果。必须在英格兰大幅削减青年服务的背景下看待所需的投资，这对弱势社区造成了不成比例的影响。为“升级”以完全重建和进一步发展这些服务提供理由。本文汇集了对过去和当前青年政策的分析以及一系列相关的经验数据。