An article reported a study which sought to quantify the change in the number of conceptions and abortions among women under 18 in England in relation to the government's national teenage pregnancy strategy. The decline in under-18 conception and birth rates since 1998, and evidence that the declines had been greatest in areas receiving higher amounts of strategy-related funding, provided limited evidence of the effect of the strategy.
Source: Paul Wilkinson et al., 'Teenage conceptions, abortions, and births in England, 1994 2003, and the national teenage pregnancy strategy', The Lancet, 23 November 2006
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined the links between welfare state provision and teenage reproductive behaviour across a range of countries with differing welfare regimes (including the United Kingdom).
Source: Anne Daguerre and Corinne Nativel (eds.), When Children Become Parents: Welfare state responses to teenage pregnancy, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
An article examined the issue of whether statutory services delivered appropriate social support for young mothers. Services appeared to be missing an opportunity to foster social inclusion, by failing to develop supportive networks among groups of peers.
Source: Angela McLeod, Deborah Baker and Mary Black, 'Investigating the nature of formal social support provision for young mothers in a city in the North West of England', Health and Social Care in the Community, Volume 14 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Nov
An article examined how experiences of being looked after might contribute to teenage pregnancy. The findings suggested that young people might benefit from a greater degree of emotional and practical support throughout their lives in care.
Source: Abigail Knight, Elaine Chase and Peter Aggleton, ''Someone of your own to love': experiences of being looked after as influences on teenage pregnancy', Children & Society, Volume 20 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Nov
A report (by an official advisory body) said that statutory sex education in schools was essential; and that family-planning clinics should be set up in places such as shops and sports halls, where youngsters could easily go for help and information.
Source: Annual Report 2005/06, Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy/Teenage Pregnancy Unit/Department for Education and Skills (mailto:Teenage.Pregnancy@dfes.gsi.gov.uk) Links: Report | TPU press release | FPA press release | Brook press release | SEF press release | Guardian report | Children Now report
Date: 2006-Sep
The government published a revised teenage pregnancy strategy. It said that all local authorities needed to come up to the standard of the best in bringing down teenage pregnancy rates. It also said that parents needed to be better engaged and supported to talk about sex and relationships with their children.
Source: Teenage Pregnancy: Accelerating the Strategy to 2010, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Strategy | DfES press release | Brook press release | YWCA press release | Young People Now report
Date: 2006-Sep
An article examined the phenomenon of early parenthood in minority ethnic communities in England. An unambiguous focus on the reduction of pregnancy was not a credible message when teenage pregnancy was a social norm for a particular ethnic or cultural group. For young parents of Muslim faith, in particular, teenage parenting within marriage was not necessarily considered a 'problem or seen as a distinctive event.
Source: Gina Higginbottom et al., 'Young people of minority ethnic origin in England and early parenthood: views from young parents and service providers', Social Science & Medicine Volume 63 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Aug
A report examined the contribution that reducing teenage births might make to ending child poverty. It summarized the rates of teenage birth in different countries, and the regional differences in both childbirth and abortion within the United Kingdom. It reviewed the impact of a teenage birth on the mother and the child, and explored the factors that increased the likelihood of a teenage birth. It also considered the long- and short-term benefits of reducing the levels of teenage births.
Source: Jonathan Bradshaw, Teenage Pregnancy, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined the motivations for 'planned' teenage pregnancy in England. Some teenagers felt that their conscious decision to become a parent was a reasonably rational life choice, given their past and the options available to them.
Source: Suzanne Cater and Lester Coleman, 'Planned' Teenage Pregnancy: Perspectives of young parents from disadvantaged backgrounds, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | JRF press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jul
The children's services inspectorate examined the views of young parents who were living with their own children in residential family centres. The best thing for young parents about the centres was that they had helped them to be with their children. The most prominent fear for young parents was not knowing what was going to happen at the end of the assessment, or whether their child/children would be taken away from them.
Source: Mike Lindsay and Roger Morgan, Young People s Views on Residential Family Centres, Children's Rights Director/Commission for Social Care Inspection (0845 015 0120)
Links: Report | CSCI press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A report examined interventions to prevent teenage pregnancy and to support teenage parents. Early childhood and youth development programmes, alongside high-quality sex education and contraception services, were shown to be effective in preventing teenage pregnancy. Providing education and career development programmes with childcare were effective in encouraging involvement in education, training, and employment.
Source: A. Harden et al., Young People, Pregnancy and Social Exclusion: A systematic synthesis of research evidence to identify effective, appropriate and promising approaches for prevention and support, EPPI-Centre/Social Science Research Unit/Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-May
A report said that young parents in the English social care system were being let down by health and social care services, with the majority fearing their child would be taken away from them. Two-thirds of the 35 young parents involved in the study said they had not received adequate sex education; while some felt that social workers, foster carers, and other professionals had tried to heavily influence their decision about whether or not to continue with an unplanned pregnancy. Most young people involved in the study did not feel supported by social services or health services.
Source: Parenting Fund Project: Report 2006, Fostering Network (020 7620 6400)
Links: Report | Fostering Network press release
Date: 2006-May
A report (by an official advisory body) said that pregnancy could provide a spur for previously under-achieving young mothers to improve their basic skills and make a successful transition back into education - provided the right combination of educational provision and practical support was available.
Source: Raising Expectations, Basic Skills Agency (0870 600 2400)
Links: BSA press release | Observer report
Date: 2006-May
An article gave provisional estimated numbers and rates of conceptions for women usually resident in England and Wales in 2004. In 2004 there were an estimated 826,000 conceptions in England and Wales, compared to 807,000 in 2003 - an increase of 2.4 per cent. There was a 1 per cent fall in the under-18 rate, and a 6 per cent fall in the under-16 rate.
Source: 'Conceptions in England and Wales, 2004', Health Statistics Quarterly 29, Spring 2006, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article | ONS press release | FPA press release | Brook press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Feb
A study explored the links between teenage parenthood and social exclusion using a range of both qualitative and quantitative data. It confirmed the association between socio-economic disadvantage and risk of teenage pregnancy, and highlighted the increased chances of teenage mothers, compared to other mothers, living in difficult circumstances. However, it also showed that the social disadvantages associated with teenage pregnancy and parenthood were a function of teenage mothers greater social adversity, not of their age per se.
Source: Meg Wiggins et al.,, Teenage Parenthood and Social Exclusion: A multi-method study, Research Report RW57, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jan
An article examined what qualitative research mapped and synthesized through a systematic review could contribute to evidence and policy, taking teenage motherhood as a case study. It highlighted how teenage motherhood, identified in quantitative reviews and in policy interventions as a route to social exclusion, emerged in these studies as an act of social inclusion. It also highlighted how social disapproval as well as material hardship weighed on teenage mothers, and the potential role that policies could play in supporting mothers in the face of material and social disadvantage.
Source: Hilary Graham and Elizabeth McDermott, 'Qualitative research and the evidence base of policy: insights from studies of teenage mothers in the UK', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 35 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jan
An article examined the literature surrounding teenage motherhood from the United Kingdom, United States, and New Zealand, and the way in which normative perceptions of motherhood had shifted. Teenage mothers were vilified, not because the evidence of poor outcomes for teen mothers and their children was particularly compelling, but because they resisted the typical life trajectory of their middle-class peers.
Source: Helen Wilson and Annette Huntington, 'Deviant (m)others: the construction of teenage motherhood in contemporary discourse', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 35 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jan