Aase Villadsen (left) and Emla Fitzsimons (right), from the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at University College London, provide new insight on the experiences of crime and victimisation in Gen Z as they transition from adolescence to early adulthood.
Young adulthood is a period of major transition. People begin to establish independence, enter higher education or employment, form relationships and navigate new social environments.
It is also a time when experiences of crime, victimisation and contact with the criminal justice system can have lasting consequences for health, wellbeing and future opportunities.
Understanding how experiences evolve from adolescence into young adulthood and which groups are most vulnerable is important for informing policy and intervention.
What we did
Our findings draw on data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a longitudinal study following more than 19,000 people born around the turn of the millennium across the UK.
At age 23, nearly 10,000 participants shared their experiences of crime, victimisation and contact with the criminal justice system, providing a rare insight into what life looks like for young adults today.
Because the same individuals were also surveyed earlier at ages 14 and 17, the study offers a unique opportunity to examine how experiences of offending, violence and victimisation change as young people move from adolescence into adulthood.
The analysis covers a wide range of experiences:
- Stops by police
- Cautions and arrests
- Court appearance
- Weapon carrying
- Physical assault victimisation
- Weapon victimisation
- Sexual harassment victimisation
- Sexual assault victimisation
- Intimate partner abuse and violence victimisation
By examining differences across sex, ethnicity, educational background and UK nation, the findings also reveal where inequalities are most pronounced and which groups face the greatest risks.
What we found
Crime and victimisation at age 23 compared to adolescence
Experiences of crime and victimisation changed noticeably between adolescence and early adulthood.
By age 23, young adults were more likely than at earlier ages to report lifetime contact with the criminal justice system.
Nearly one in five (19%) had been stopped by the police at some point in their lives, while one in ten (11%) had been cautioned or arrested (compared to 16% and 7% respectively at age 17).
Court appearances as an accused also became more common by age 23, at 2.5% versus 0.3% at 17.
In contrast, carrying a weapon in the past year became less common as young people moved into adulthood (from 3% to 1%).
Patterns of victimisation were more mixed. Physical assault declined substantially with age: 11% of 23-year-olds reported being physically assaulted in the previous year, compared with almost a quarter at age 17. Assault involving a weapon also became slightly less common.
At the same time, experiences of past year sexual victimisation increased. Around one in six (16%) young adults reported unwanted sexual approaches, while 5% reported sexual assault – increases from 13% and 3% at age 17.
Measures collected for the first time at age 23 also showed that intimate partner abuse was relatively common, with 3% reporting violence from a partner and 11% reporting partner emotional abuse in the past year.
Group differences in crime and victimisation
The findings also revealed important inequalities across groups. Men were more likely to report contact with the criminal justice system, weapon carrying and physical assault victimisation. while women reported higher levels of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence and emotional abuse.
There were also differences by ethnicity and educational background. Young adults without higher education reported substantially higher levels of police contact, arrests and court appearances, as well as higher rates of assault and intimate partner violence.
However, unwanted sexual approaches were more commonly reported among those with higher education.
Some ethnic differences also emerged, with Black participants reporting higher levels of police contact and criminal justice involvement and Asian participants generally reporting lower levels of victimisation and offending-related behaviours.
Regional differences across the UK were less consistent, although young adults in Northern Ireland were more likely to report having been stopped by police, while emotional abuse within relationships was reported less often in Northern Ireland than in other UK nations.
Why this matters
Our findings paint a complex picture of how young adults in the UK today experience and navigate crime and victimisation.
While some risks, such as physical assault, become less common after adolescence, others – particularly sexual harassment, sexual assault and abuse within intimate relationships – become more prominent in early adulthood.
The analyses also reveal persistent inequalities in who is most affected by crime and victimisation. Men were more likely to report contact with the criminal justice system, while women faced higher risks of sexual victimisation and partner abuse.
The findings therefore speak directly to growing policy concerns around violence against women and girls.
Young adults without higher education were also more likely to experience both offending-related behaviours and victimisation. These differences highlight important questions about prevention, fairness and support.
They suggest that experiences of crime and victimisation are shaped not only by individual behaviour, but also by wider social inequalities and life circumstances.
You can read the full briefing paper here.
What is next
In further work we are utilising the rich set of longitudinal measures collected in the MCS to further examine risk factors for sexual assault and intimate partner violence and abuse.
Understanding who is most at risk enables earlier identification of vulnerable groups and more targeted prevention strategies.
A wide range of demographic, socioeconomic, health, and behavioural factors will be examined.
About the authors
Aase Villadsen is Senior Research Fellow at Centre for Longitudinal Studies at UCL
Her research examines how family, socio-economic, behavioural and environmental factors shape trajectories of mental health, educational attainment, school exclusion, violence involvement and other social outcomes.
Emla Fitzsimons is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at UCL
Her research is focused on the emergence of inequalities early in life and how they shape outcomes through childhood and adulthood. She is particularly interested in using longitudinal data and quasi-experimental methods to better inform policy and decision-making.
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