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Social Policy Research 84 - October 1995 Recent research by Louie Burghes of the Family Policy Studies Centre, with Mark Brown of the University of Liverpool, explores the demographic development of all single lone mothers and their social and economic characteristics. A qualitative study of 31 mothers who at conception were teenagers and had never been married provides insights into their expectations and experiences of relationships and family life. The researchers found that:
Among the 31 mothers interviewed who were teenagers at the time of conception it was found that:
Introduction Single lone mothers - women who have never been married and who live alone with their dependent children - include women who have no current resident partner, but who have had a cohabiting relationship in which their children were conceived, born, and/or lived. They are not distinguished in national counts of lone parenthood from those who have never cohabited. Single lone mothers are more common now than twenty years ago, rising fivefold to just under 500,000 by 1992. But the mothers' circumstances may not be an accurate guide to their attitudes and aspirations for family life. Nor can it be assumed that they will always live without a partner, whether or not this is their children's father. Aims of the project This project set out, via a review of existing literature and detailed analysis of demographic data, to explore the demographic development of single lone motherhood, to describe their socio-economic circumstances and to explore the underlying influences on single lone mothers. In addition, a qualitative survey of 31 mothers examined the circumstances in which single teenage women become pregnant, have their babies and come to be living with them without a resident partner. It considered how these experiences compared with their aspirations and expectations of family life and their hopes for these in the future. Demographic development Single lone motherhood has increased at the same time as the proportion of conceptions and births outside marriage has risen. The connection between the two is not, however, straightforward. 'Shot-gun' weddings The most marked change in recent decades has been the decline of the 'shot-gun' wedding:
Where couples of any age once responded to a pregnancy by getting married, they are now more likely to cohabit. The decline in the shot-gun marriage may have increased, however briefly, the number of never-married mothers (whether single lone or cohabiting) by about 500,000 in the past twenty years. Shot-gun marriages among teenagers are especially vulnerable to breakdown. The experience of their peers in cohabiting relationships may be similar. Cohabitation Conceptions and births outside marriage may be to couples in cohabiting relationships. As cohabitation increases in popularity at the expense of marriage, an increasing proportion of women will have become single lone mothers through the breakdown of a cohabiting relationship. The increase in single lone motherhood alone does not, therefore, directly imply a lack of interest among mothers in the formation of the two-parent family. Today, almost three-quarters of births to never-married couples are estimated to have been jointly registered, and between 4 and 5 in 10 may be to cohabiting couples. Where the breakdown of a 'shot-gun' marriage would once have increased the number of separated and divorced lone mothers, cohabitations that end are today boosting the number of single lone mothers. Teenage motherhood The shot-gun marriage and its demise is popularly associated with teenage conceptions outside marriage. But the number of conceptions and births outside marriage has risen in all age groups, and those to teenagers are a declining proportion of the total. While the number and rate of teenage conceptions and births outside marriage has risen, there are fewer births in total now for all teenage women than there were at the beginning of the 1970s:
Social and economic characteristics Data from the General Household Survey 1990-92 suggest that single lone mother families are not generally as well off as either other lone mother families (separated, divorced or widowed) or two-parent families. Nor are cohabiting couples as well off as their married counterparts. Family facts
Housing
Income and employment
This pattern of working and keeping house reflects the high proportion of mothers with children under school age. The proportion in employment and their hours of work increase as their children get older. Single lone mothers were no more likely to be in employment if they lived with their parents. However, those who were, worked longer hours. The qualitative study What path takes young women from their early sexual experiences to single lone motherhood? This issue was explored in interviews with 31 mothers who, as never married teenagers, had been at risk of single lone motherhood, when their babies were conceived. When they were interviewed, 19 were single lone mothers and 12 were living in cohabiting relationships. Eight sexually active teenage women were also interviewed. Sexual activity and contraception The mothers reported a variety of influences on their youthful sexual activity. Sexual activity was not always planned and contraceptives were not always to hand. Some had felt pressured into it. Nonetheless a half had used contraceptives at first intercourse and few who did not want to conceive had never used them. Some mothers had found contraceptives difficult to obtain or to use correctly, or felt uncomfortable about initiating contraceptive use within a developing relationship. By comparison, the teenage women seemed better informed and were confident in handling sexual activity in their relationships. Pregnancy Most pregnancies were unintended. The mothers were shocked to discover they were pregnant, and anxious about the consequences. They revealed a range of complex attitudes to and influences on their response to their pregnancy. Nearly all expressed strong anti-abortion views. Some had families who were similarly opposed or thought abortion would be more stigmatising in their communities than single motherhood. Few had received independent advice on abortion from health professionals. On the other hand, there were mothers who had not followed the pro-abortion advice of their own mothers, the latter wanting to avoid a repetition of their own teenage motherhood. Others acknowledged circumstances in which they might have an abortion in the future. Adoption was rarely considered. When it was, mothers found they could not contemplate giving away their babies. At the time they became pregnant, all the mothers interviewed were in education, training or employment, or intending to become so. But with a handful of exceptions, their likely future employment and earning opportunities appeared limited. Single lone motherhood Single lone motherhood was not an inevitable outcome of conception for the mothers interviewed:
Their relationship experiences were diverse as well as dynamic. Single lone motherhood did not preclude continuing good (non-cohabiting) relationships with their child's father or the formation of new relationships, and hopes of a future cohabitation and marriage. Three cohabiting mothers were living with a partner who was not the father of their first child. Four of the cohabiting mothers had married since giving birth. Mothers reported violence by their ex-partners or the father's unwillingness to settle down as the major causes of the breakdown in their relationships. By no means all, in any case, could have been expected to last long-term. Some single lone mothers were wary about marriage as a result of their experiences. The (9) cohabiting mothers living (at the time of interview) with their children's biological father judged their relationships to have been good before conception, through pregnancy and in early parenthood. Housing and support Mothers commonly found that they were not able to put their names on the waiting list for local authority accommodation until they were 18. Even then they might wait up to two years to be housed. Living with their parents was not always open to them. Where it was, it could work well in the short term but was rarely an ideal arrangement long-term. Relationships had been placed under stress as a result. Some mothers received considerable support from their parents, whether living at home or not. But others received none at all, or found such help did not survive an initial burst of enthusiasm. Experience of motherhood The experience of motherhood of single lone mothers was an unsurprising mixture of hard work and enormous joy. What set it apart from that of the cohabiting mothers was the strain of living on a limited income (mostly income support) and of parenting alone. With hindsight they would like to have done things differently, and not had children so young (typically not before their mid-twenties). For the most part the mothers interviewed preferred to be at home caring for their young children. Some mothers who wanted to work part-time were thwarted by limited opportunities and a lack of child care. All the mothers intended to resume training or employment once their children were in school. Family life and advice to today's teenagers Their advice to today's young people reflected both their own experience of motherhood and their youthful expectations of family life and current hopes for the future. None advocated single lone motherhood. They advised today's teenagers to ensure good contraceptive protection and even to limit their sexual activity. Before their motherhood, by no means all of the young women had thought about having children. But more than a third of the single lone mothers had hoped their family formation would follow a 'traditional' pattern, including the establishment of a permanent relationship and a settled home before embarking on parenthood. Now, their long-term hopes were often focused on 'finding a father' for their children in a settled, often married, relationship. For the teenage women, marriage and children were long-term prospects. They had doubts, however, about the security of modern marriages and assumed that, as a safeguard, they would cohabit pre-maritally. Policy issues There are no simple or short-term solutions to the problem of unplanned teenage pregnancies. Certainly neither abortion nor adoption would be countenanced by all young women facing unplanned teenage motherhood. It is before and not after conception that solutions must be sought. The key is to reduce conceptions through more and better sex education - in its broadest sense - and improved access to family planning for young people. Once a child has been conceived, better access to housing and employment is essential for couples seeking to establish their family. Currently, neither are always available to young people, and family formation may be thwarted as a result. About the research The demographic study drew on OPCS and other published statistical data. The mothers in the qualitative study had all had their first baby within five years of being interviewed. Interviews were conducted by Social and Community Planning Research in five areas in Britain. Further information The full report, Single lone mothers: Problems, prospects and policies by Louie Burghes with Mark Brown, is published in the Family and Parenthood Series by the Family Policy Studies Centre with the support of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (price £9.50). |
