Teenage parents: moral problem, social problem or no problem at all?

Dr Sally Brown from Durham University recently visited CRFR to present a seminar on her qualitative research with teenage mothers and mothers-to-be. She recounts her findings in this blog.

Many people will be familiar with headlines and newspaper stories about the UK having high teenage pregnancy rates; they may be less familiar with recent statistics showing that rates have fallen dramatically and are now at their lowest since records began. Indeed, when Tony Blair made his famous comment about teenage pregnancy leading to “blighted lives and shattered futures” in 1999, teenage pregnancies were at their lowest for 30 years. Nevertheless, teenage pregnancy, and teenage parenting, are still perceived as problematic, either a moral problem or a social problem, or possibly a combination of both. The paper I gave recently at CRFR focusses on whether teenage parenting is a problem, and if so, who sees it as such. Hilary Graham and Elizabeth McDermott have shown how quantitative research on teenage pregnancy and parenting highlights the “problem” side of the argument, demonstrating that teenage parenting is a route to social exclusion, whereas qualitative research shows the opposite, that it can be a route to social inclusion.

My paper is based on qualitative interviews with teenage mothers and mothers-to-be from different generations, from one who had her baby in 1955, through those who had their children 15-20 years ago, to some who had their babies in 2013. What was interesting in the interviews was how almost all of them talked about the shock of being pregnant, being upset, and being scared of telling their parents, but happy about having a baby. Almost as if the pregnancy and the baby were two different entities, the parents talked about having “wanted more” for their daughters, but also about the joy of new life being brought into their family, and how they were looking forward to, or enjoying being, grandparents. The context of these young women becoming mothers, then, is a context where they are part of a loving family where a baby, although unexpected, is welcomed. Some of the young women described situations where they had been estranged from their parents, or grown up in very challenging circumstances, and the baby in these situations had brought families back together.

It seems, then, that there is a mismatch between the way policy-makers, politicians and the media view teenage pregnancy, and the way the families experiencing it view it. From a policy point of view, teenage pregnancy still leads to blighted lives, and life on benefits. For young parents whose college careers were interrupted by pregnancy, there was a determination to go back to studying; for those who had been unsure of where they were going in life, a baby provided an incentive to get qualifications and a good job. Instead of pillorying young parents, we should be supporting them to make the best of their lives for themselves and their babies, which is, after all, what they said they wanted to do.

Is Scotland the best place to bring up children?

Parenting Across Scotland has published a new collection of essays about parenting in Scotland. Entitled 'Scotland: the best place in the world to bring up children', the publication puts forward proposals from leading researchers about how to make Scotland a world-leader in parenting. Two CRFR staff members contributed essays about their projects:

Parenting young children

Growing up in Scotland (GUS) is tracing the lives of thousands of children across Scotland from birth to the teenage years and beyond. This information can tell how  parents are parenting, what influences parenting and how parenting styles impact on children. Findings include:

• Home learning environment: Most parents of children under five are providing a good 'home learning environment: at age 22 months, 79% of children were read to every day, 58% sang songs  while 28% had the opportunity to paint or draw every day. However, children from less advantaged households were doing these activities less frequently. Children taking part in more activities scored higher on cognitive ability tests, even after other socio-demographic factors were taken into account.
• Discipline techniques: While one third of parents in Scotland had used smacking by the time their child was aged four, only 13% of parents agreed that it was a useful technique.
• Parenting support: A quarter of parents with a child under one said that they found it difficult to know who to ask for help or advice about being a parent. Young mums were more likely to say they did not like classes or groups.
• Parenting and children's health: A lack of parenting skills were associated with poorer health and health behaviours amongst children. In particular, high levels of parent-child conflict were associated with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

By Lesley Kelly, CRFR and Paul Bradshaw, ScotCen Social Research: Growing up in Scotland. 

Parenting teenagers: relationships and behaviour

Calls to helplines indicate that parents of teenagers often struggle and feel isolated, particularly with behaviour and relationship issues. The About Families project has highlighted a number of themes emerging from research about the key issues for parents of teenagers:

• Conflict: Conflict between parents and teens is not necessarily a bad thing and can play a useful role in teenagers' development. It is how often, with whom, and why conflict happens that is most important, along with how parents manage their own behaviour. Conflict with friends, which usually involves some attempt to limit the damage and preserve a friendship, can help teenagers to learn how to manage conflict and develop emtional responses.
• Communication and relationships: Teenagers who are communicated with and involved in family decisions are more competent in making decisions about their lives and less likely to engage in problem behaviour.
• Moving to independence: It is natural for parents to feel some anxiety as teenagers become more independent. However, problems can arise if this anxiety makes them act in a way which is instrusive or inhibits a teenager's exploration of new environments and relationships. Parents may manager better when they see becoming independent as a healthy part of adolescent development.
• Parent satisfaction: How happy parents feel about their parenting is linked to how they view the development of their teenagers.
• Parenting together: Parents agreeing about their approach to parenting is more important than who does what, or how much each is involved. Both parents of disabled teenagers are likely to be involved in all areas of their teenagers life.
• How much do parents about their teenagers?: There are differences between mothers and fathers in how they find out about their children's lives. Howevere, how much they know could be the result of what teenagers choose to tell them rather than what they try to find out. Ensuring a teenager feels comfortable about sharing information cold be more effective in deterring them from problem behaviour than trying to control their activities.
  Although some parents of disabled teenagers think that more detailed communication is necessary, generally the issues are thought to be the same, regardless of disability.

By Karen Mountney: About Families