Young Mothers: A study of Young Single Mothers in Two Communities
Commissioned by the Vincentian Partnership for Justice (2001)
By Dr. Valerie Richardson Executive Summary
This report resulted from an initiative taken by the Vincentian Partnership for Justice who had identified the issue of young single mothers as a research priority for the Millennium. The total number of births to teenagers under 18 years in Ireland has increased over the last decade from 610 in 1989 to 823 in 1999. In addition given their young age, the majority of the births occur outside marriage. Concern about the numbers of teenage births has resulted from an increasing number of research studies which have indicated negative consequences of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing. One of the major concerns has been the consistent finding of an increased risk of poverty and welfare dependency among unmarried adolescent parents (McCashin 1996: Wilson 1999). McCashin (1993) found that when income data for households of different types were analysed to calculate risks of poverty, unmarried lone parents emerged as the highest risk category. He found that over 90% of unmarried lone parents’ households received 80% or more of their gross income from social welfare payments. (McCashin 1993:3) In addition, research in the UK and the US has shown that adolescent childbirth is associated with low educational achievement, lack of employment opportunities, low socio-economic status and low self esteem, all of which contribute to the likelihood of early pregnancy as well as to the consequences of it. ( Phoenix 1993: Lawson and Rhode 1993)
Objectives
This research project has a number of objectives: To promote understanding and knowledge based on systematic research of a sub group of the lone parent population in Ireland. To document the experiences and current situation of young single mothers in two local areas. To identify their perceived needs not only materially, but in terms of social support, social integration, education, training and employment. To examine how having children at a relatively young age has impacted on their lives To explore the possible role of voluntary organisations and community groups in initiatives to improve the quality of life of young single mothers and that of their children.
Data Collection
Data for this study was generated from a number of sources: Literature Official Statistics Focused interviews with thirty one mothers under the age of 25 who had had their first baby when unmarried and under the age of 18 years. The sample was obtained from Knocknaheeny in Cork and Darndale in Dublin. These areas were selected by the Vincentian Partnership as areas where there was perceived to be a high number of young unmarried lone mothers. Quantitative data obtained from a questionnaire sent to 800 Conferences of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
Findings
It is very clear from the data that the young women are concerned and caring about their children and do the best they can using their limited resources. Becoming an unmarried mother as a teenager has a profound effect on the lives of the young women resulting in them prematurely taking on adult responsibilities. The realisation that the responsibility is for the long term has a serious impact on their lives. The young women received an enormous amount of ongoing support from their families The majority of the women returned to their family home after the delivery of the baby. Over time, between a quarter and one third had moved out of home for a number of reasons: overcrowding, wishing to establish an independent life and conflict within the home. The length of time they remained at home varied between three months and seven years. The majority of the women received emotional support from the fathers of their children during the pregnancy and immediately after the birth. However, over time this contact falls away and at the time of the study while almost 40% of the women had daily contact with the father of the child, a similar number had no contact at all. There was a low level of educational attainment among the women, together with early school leaving. The majority of the women had left school prior to their pregnancy. While the women had harboured negative attitudes to school during their time in school, the majority of them now regretted leaving school without qualifications and wished to return to education in the future. The women felt that there was a lack of counselling and support within the school system. Just over half of the women were working part-time, only one woman full-time and the remainder were unemployed. Many of them wished to work but were prevented from doing so because of inadequate childcare facilities and the need to travel out of their area to obtain work. On the other hand some of the mothers wished to remain in the home to look after their children themselves. These mothers said they would like to return to work once their children had started school. Where the young mother was working or attending employment schemes, family members were providing the majority of the child care arrangements. The young mothers enjoyed enormous support from their families in this regard. There was some ambivalence about the use of childcare facilities. Mothers expressed the view that they wanted good quality, affordable child care in the community, and expressed doubts about leaving their children with strangers. Poverty was an issue for these mothers. They were attempting to manage on low levels of income and the majority of them found it difficult to cope particularly when extra demands were made on them at particular times. All the women were on One-Parent Family Payment with no reliance on maintenance from the fathers of their children. Income from employment did not figure significantly. The women placed priority on meeting their children’s needs rather than their own and often called on families to help them manage. The young women seemed to find difficulties in obtaining clear information on benefits and in particular, on how to maximise employment with social welfare benefits. Use of contraception was limited, which was consistent with the findings of other researchers. Much of the information obtained from the young women came from informal sources. The study
found that the ability of the young women to link the fact of sexual activity with the possibility of becoming pregnant was limited and their attitude to contraception was casual. The sex education the women had received was limited. In general the young women had made little use of statutory and voluntary services in the areas, again highlighting the important role of families in supporting these mothers. The lack of use of services was linked to inaccessibility of services based in the city centre. In general the mothers did not feel stigmatised, nor did they feel that their children suffered from being part of a one-parent family. Many of their siblings and friends also had children outside marriage and at a young age, and they found support from this situation. The extended family played an important role in providing additional family members for the child in the lone parent situation. Marriage was of little importance to them at this time, nor did they view it as important in the future. The main aspirations for the future of their children were that they should remain in education and use that education to obtain good employment. They were adamant that they did not want their children to make the same mistakes they had done, particularly in relation to early school leaving. For themselves the aspirations of the majority of mothers was to return to education and train for employment. They saw themselves as continuing their own lives once their children had grown up.
Recommendations
The findings of this study give rise to a number of recommendations which fall into three main areas: prevention, current support and future initiatives.
Prevention
It is recommended that every effort should be made to encourage young women to remain in education at least to completion of senior secondary level. It is recommended that a school counselling/social work service should be established to meet the needs of young people in general, not just those who become pregnant at a young age. This service should be seen as separate from the provision of career guidance counsellors as they exist at present. It is recommended that a review of the sex education in schools should be undertaken and that emphasis should be placed on obtaining the views of students. In addition, it is recommended that discussion should take place on contraception and practical advice be given in relation to sexually transmitted diseases. It was clear from this study that the young women had not previously made the connection- cause and effect- of having a sexual relationship and becoming pregnant. It is recommended that both young men and young women should be given the opportunity to discuss these issues within an RSE programme and it should be undertaken within the context of the importance of relationships and long term responsibilities. It is recommended that voluntary agencies should provide centres out of the city in order to make available locally based women’s health services. Support
Support of families, and ion particular of the mother of the young women, was of critical importance in helping the young mothers accept their pregnancy and manage their children after delivery. It is therefore important that an environment should be encouraged which allows for families to continue with their support. It is recommended that every effort should be made to house young mothers in areas close to their families of origin. Many of the mothers of the young women provide ongoing child care and baby sitting for their daughters. It is recognised that they too should be given supports in the community. It is recommended that a centre and support groups for the families should be developed particularly for the grandmothers. The young mothers expressed a view that there was limited support for them in the community, as a particular group. It is recommended that support groups for young mothers should be established to provide opportunities for socialising and also the opportunity for parenting courses. In order to help the families in supporting the young mothers, and in particular in providing supports for those mothers not living in their families of origins it is recommended that the Community Mothers Scheme be expanded to target particularly this group of young mothers. Many of the agencies which offer support to lone parents are based outside the areas. It is recommended that voluntary and statutory agencies should open local facilities in order to maximise the opportunities for the young women to utilise the services offered. The mothers were at high risk of long term poverty. While employment offers a means of supplementing income, not all the mothers would choose to work preferring to remain at home to care for their children. It is therefore important that they should have sufficient income from other sources. It is recommended that the level Of OFP should be increased significantly in real terms so that it assumes a greater role in child income support policy. Efforts to obtain support from the fathers should be encouraged.
Future Initiatives
Given that the majority of the young women regretted leaving school early and expressed the view that they wished to return to education, consideration should be given to the introduction of Back to Education Initiatives as outlined tin the White Paper on Adult Education, Learning for Life (2000:93) The White Paper recommends (inter alia) intensive outreach work in partnership with relevant community interests, localised provision within the community and the provision of intensive supports in the form of mentoring, advocacy, guidance, information and counselling. It is recommended that voluntary agencies should initiate Back to Education initiatives within the two communities, in line with the recommendations of the White Paper. Any initiatives to encourage young women to return to employment or education will only be successful if combined with the provision of locally based, freely available, good quality and affordable child care provision. It is recommended that child care provision should be expanded in the areas, with priority being given to the children of young single mothers who wish to avail of educational and employment opportunities. The study highlighted the difficulties for many of the women in obtaining information around the area of social welfare entitlements. It is therefore recommended that this localisation should be undertaken as soon as possible, particularly in the areas where there is a high concentration of lone parents. Many of the young women mentioned the lack of youth services and provision for the younger age groups in the areas. It is recommended that a review of such services should be undertaken in the
areas with a view to assessing the opportunities that do exist for young people to socialise, and the development of new initiatives to meet the need should be established. Some of the women in this study highlighted the need of playgrounds and controlled areas for the younger children in the area. It is recommended that initiatives should be taken to encourage young people to be engaged in the care of their own communities. Dr. Valerie Richardson October 2000.