A paper studied associations between a woman s age on becoming a mother and subsequent outcomes, such as her living standard, at ages 30-51. The analysis suggested that having a teen-birth, particularly when aged under 18, constrained a woman s opportunities in the marriage market , in the sense that she found it more difficult to find and retain a partner, and she partnered with more unemployment-prone and lower-earning men. Teenage mothers were much less likely to be a homeowner later in life, and their living standard, as measured by equivalent household income, was about 20 per cent lower than that of other mothers.
Source: John Ermisch, Does a Teen-Birth Have Longer-Term Impacts on the Mother? Suggestive evidence from the British Household Panel Study, Working Paper 2003-32, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Nov
A paper compared the mental health of four groups of women in the 1990s: teenage women who had first births, teenage non-mothers, and mothers of two older age groups. Teenage mothers tended to have a significantly higher level of depression in the medium term.
Source: Tim Futing Liao, Mental Health, Teenage Motherhood, and Age at First Birth among British Women in the 1990s, Working Paper 2003-33, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Nov
A paper used data from the British 1970 Cohort Study to investigate the associations between the age of the mother at the birth of the cohort member (1970) and a range of outcomes at birth and ages 5, 10 and 30. The results showed consistent associations through childhood and early adulthood that generally reflected poorer outcomes the younger the mother.
Source: David Pevalin, Outcomes in Childhood and Adulthood by Mother s Age at Birth: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study, Working Paper 2003-31, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
A study investigated the family background and childhood factors that were associated with having a child as a teenager. The age of the mother of those surveyed at the time of their own birth, together their educational qualifications, had 'significant, consistent and robust' associations with the likelihood of teenage birth.
Source: John Ermisch and David Pevalin, Who Has a Child as a Teenager?, Working Paper 2003-30, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
A study examined parent student poverty, family finances and institutional support. Lack of resources for parent students was found to impose hardship on children as well as parents. Concerns about the effect on children limited mothers' willingness to be engaged on courses of more than one year. Recommendations for change included raising the level of student support, cushioning the impact of loss of income support and housing benefit that attached to higher education study, and improving advice services.
Source: Gill Scott, Elizabeth Frondigoun, Morag Gillespie and Ann White, Making Ends Meet, CPAG in Scotland (0141 552 3303)
Links: No link
Date: 2003-Oct
An interim evaluation report was published on the Sure Start Plus programme (a pilot programme aimed at reducing the risk of long-term social exclusion resulting from teenage pregnancy, through co-ordinated support to pregnant teenagers and teenage parents under 18 years). It said that better communication systems should be established to enable programmes to learn and share from one another, as well as to provide clarity about strategic factors. Some programmes felt that they were reaching their full capacity of clients.
Source: Meg Wiggins, Helen Austerberry, Mikey Rosato, Mary Sawtell and Sandy Oliver, Sure Start Plus National Evaluation: Service Delivery Study - Interim findings, Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
An independent advisory group urged the government to intensify its efforts to lower teenage conception rates by doing more with hard-to-reach groups, including boys and young men.
Source: Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy, Annual Report 2002/03, Teenage Pregnancy Unit/Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Report (pdf) | IAG press release | DfES press release | FPA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
Researchers found that up to a third of children under 16 with caring responsibilities experienced educational difficulties. These included regular absence, persistent lateness, poor academic performance, tiredness and being victims of bullying. These problems often had a knock-on effect in later life.
Source: Young Carers and Education, Carers UK (020 7490 8818)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Jun
Analysis of the 2001 Census showed that there were 149,000 children under 18 who provided unpaid care within their family. Campaigners said this figure could still be significantly below the true figure. (In 1996 the Office for National Statistics estimated that there were between 19,000 and 51,000 young carers.)
Source: Census 2001: National Report for England & Wales, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 20.5.03, Children s Society (020 7841 4415)
Links: Link to Census report and tables | Press release
Date: 2003-May
Conception rates among girls aged under 18 were 3 per cent lower in 2001 than in 2000, according to provisional estimates. Conception rates among girls aged under 16 were 4.5 per cent lower.
Source: 'Conceptions in England and Wales, 2001', Health Statistics Quarterly 17, Spring 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | DH press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The Health Development Agency published a summary of review-level data about effective interventions to reduce the rates of teenage pregnancy and improve the outcomes for teenage parents.
Source: Catherine Swann, Kate Bowe, Geraldine McCormick and Michael Kosmin, Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood: Review of reviews, Health Development Agency (0870 121 4194)
Links: Report (pdf) | News report
Date: 2003-Feb
A report made a series of recommendations for supporting healthy eating among pregnant teenagers. It said they should be entitled to welfare benefits as soon as they confirmed their pregnancy, rather than having to wait until they were 29 weeks pregnant; that all pregnant women should be entitled to the same rates of benefit as the rates set for women over the age of 25; and that all pregnant under 18 years old should be entitled to welfare foods irrespective of welfare benefit entitlement, as soon as they confirmed their pregnancy.
Source: Helen Burchett and Annie Seeley, Good Enough to Eat?: The diet of pregnant teenagers, Maternity Alliance (020 7490 7639) and Food Commission
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
The Northern Ireland Executive published a strategy for tackling the problems associated with teenage pregnancy.
Source: Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood: Strategy and Action Plan 2002-2007, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety/Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Jan