Julia Cook

Dr Julia Cook is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Newcastle's School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences. She is a youth sociologist specializing in housing, family finance, and their impacts on young people's lives. As an ARC DECRA Fellow (2022-2025) and chief investigator on the ARC-funded Life Patterns longitudinal research program (2021-2026), her work bridges academic research and policy development.

Dr Cook completed her Doctor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) at the University of Melbourne. Her educational background established the foundation for her expertise in the sociology of youth, time, and housing, with particular attention to economic sociology.

Her research focuses on how housing and family financial assistance shape young adults' pathways into homeownership, with special attention to intergenerational financial transfers and young adults' navigation of debt. Through qualitative and mixed methods research, she amplifies young people's voices to inform policy changes, particularly regarding housing, loans, and family assistance. Her work reveals how financialized property markets, precarious housing, and conditional tenancy arrangements impact youth transitions to adulthood.

Analysis of her recent publications shows a consistent focus on the financialization of young people's lives, with increasing attention to digital financial services like 'Buy Now Pay Later' platforms, intergenerational wealth transfers, and the gendered dimensions of financial management. Her work increasingly examines how these financial arrangements intersect with housing pathways and future orientations of young people.

• ARC DECRA Fellow (2022-2025)
• 2022 ABC Top 5 (Humanities) scholar
• Co-editor in chief of Journal of Applied Youth Studies
• Editorial board member: Time & Society, Journal of Youth Studies, Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

Dr Cook actively supervises PhD students focusing on youth, social media, mental health, and housing. She has secured over $2.7 million in research funding, including major ARC grants examining intergenerational financial assistance with homeownership and young people's experiences with debt. Her research partnerships include collaborations with the Greater Bank Financial Literacy Laboratory and the Centre for Household Assets and Savings Management at the University of Birmingham.

As a founding member of the Newcastle Youth Studies Centre, Dr Cook contributes to an interdisciplinary research hub focused on youth issues. She regularly engages with media as a commentator on youth sociology topics and has developed interventions to improve financial literacy programs for young people based on her research findings.