Tackling child poverty delivery plan: fourth year progress report 2021-2022 - focus report on households with mothers aged 25 or under

What we know about households with mothers aged under 25

As with all families, those where the mother is under 25 can come from a range of different backgrounds and have a range of different characteristics and experiences. Certainly, there is not a standard model that families with a mother under 25 fit into, and their experiences can vary greatly. Data shows, however, that there are some general characteristics that households with mothers under 25 are more likely to share than those where the mother is older. They are more likely to:

• be in poverty – as seen in previous chapter ^[11]
• when employed, be in in-work poverty^[12]
• live in the same household as a grandparent of the child^[13]
• be in other priority family groups.For example, over half (54%) are in a lone parent household, 40% have a baby under 1 in the household, and 35% have someone disabled in the household.^[14][15]

Sharing these various characteristics means that sometimes their journey out of poverty is more complex and requires greater support and care (see Figure 1 for further details).

There are a range of factors that explain why mothers aged under 25 are at greater risk of poverty. For example, early motherhood is more likely amongst those who are already experiencing socio-economic disadvantage.^[16] The most common age at which a mother has her first child is substantially lower in the most deprived areas: 21 years, compared to 32 years in the least deprived.^[17] Nevertheless, the proportion of births to younger mothers in Scotland has continued on a significant downward trend over the last 20 years.^[18]

Evidence suggests that the younger the mother, the greater the challenges they might face. Data from Growing Up in Scotland^[19] shows that mothers aged 20-24 were in a relatively advantaged position when compared with those under 20. They tended to have more qualifications, higher average incomes and be more likely to be in employment. Still, those under 25 are more disadvantaged in those areas compared to women who become mothers later on in life.

There are some measures that can be particularly beneficial to mothers under 25 in supporting their journey out of poverty. This includes: family support, formal sources including the Family Nurse Partnership, and removal of stigma. The following paragraphs look at each of these in turn.

Family support

The important role that family, particularly grandparents, can play in supporting families with children is well documented. When interviewed, mothers under 25 who lacked family support expressed that this was a challenge:

“It’s just the two of us; no friends or family. It’s sometimes difficult. Some family members didn’t want to speak with me because I got pregnant so young.”

Mother under 20, part of FNP

Those who received support from family found it very beneficial. These forms of support represent a form of social capital^[20] and are particularly important for mothers under 25. This support ranges from emotional support, financial help and practical help with day to day childcare. A strong support network can help young mothers access education and employment.

“My mother and auntie usually look after him if I need a wee break. They were a bit shocked at first but they came around and were supportive in the end”

Mother under 20, part of FNP

“Sometimes it can be a bit challenging in the mornings if I have an early shift, as her nursery opens at 8 and I have to start at 8, so we need to get help from family for drop offs”

Mother aged 20-25, not part of FNP

The younger the mother is the more likely it is that support will come from grandparents. Analysis from Growing Up in Scotland has shown that, even up to the age of six, the proportion of grandparents with very frequent 'hands on' interaction is higher for children in lower income groups and those born to teenage mothers. For example, at age six, 64% of children whose mothers were under 20 at the time of their birth, stayed overnight at their maternal grandparents at least once a month, compared with 31% of other children.^[21]

For teenage mothers in particular, research has indicated that while they often rely on family support, they may be less likely to have strong support from partners or friends.^[22] They also tend to have more limited support networks from wider services available.^[23]

However, many young mothers do not have family support and isolation can be high amongst this group, particularly when they are the first to become mothers and may feel detached from their peer group. Interviews highlighted these feelings of isolation, as well as the importance of being able to continue socialising and taking part in the sorts of activities they used to with their friends.

“I’m the only mum in my friend group, they’re all out and I’m at home watching Peppa Pig. It’s very different. ”

Mother aged 20-25, part of FNP

“I’ve got no friends my age who have children…so I’m kind of alone in that. Even though my friends are good with him, they don’t have children so they don’t know what it’s like. It’s hard being a young parent cos you have to grow up so much faster. I see my friends doing things I can’t do, like going on holiday, and I can’t do that. I’m not the sort of person that would leave him for a week and ask someone to babysit him”

Mother under 20, part of FNP

“I didn’t have many friends when I was pregnant. I still have one friend still standing from before I was pregnant. I put it down to Covid, and maybe people have other things going on… but maybe this is what happens when you become pregnant and people lose interest. I didn’t have much going for me from my friends”

Mother 20-25, part of FNP

Formal sources of support

Analysis from Growing Up in Scotland shows that younger parents and parents with lower levels of education are generally less comfortable engaging with formal support services and are more likely to believe there is a stigma attached to this.^[24] People in these groups, however, also reported being most in need of support and more likely to have experienced challenging circumstances, as well as expressing less confidence in themselves as parents. This analysis provided some insights around how engagement with formal support services might be strengthened. For example, parents who said they were uncomfortable engaging with formal support were more likely to say they disliked the group format in which formal support was frequently delivered. They felt they would prefer to receive information, advice and support on a one-to-one basis.

A review of international evidence on young parents services found further barriers young parents may face when engaging with antenatal parenting support. These include being overwhelmed by the involvement of multiple agencies, unfamiliarity with care services, practical problems making attendance difficult, difficulties communicating with healthcare staff and anxieties about attitudes of healthcare staff.^[25]

During the interviews, the preference for face to face interaction also came through strongly. As one participant put it:

“The midwife gave me phone numbers and stuff, but I’m not so good at phoning people. It would have been better if I could get in touch with them (services) in a different way”

Mother under 20, part of FNP

The qualitative research indicated that apprehension and anxiety around accessing and attending antenatal care was exacerbated by having to attend alone due to COVID-19 restrictions. While many services were offered online or by telephone, many mothers interviewed would have preferred more in-person healthcare checks and support during pregnancy and after birth, but accepted that it was difficult while the NHS were under extreme pressure.

“…during the pandemic, we were just home and there were no classes, I couldn’t talk to anyone else who was going through the same…When I had my community midwife appointment, it was all online. It would have been helpful to have something face-to-face” Mother aged 20-25, not part of FNP

“…with the Covid, you couldn’t really have anyone around anyway even if they could help. You’d have to go to appointments on your own and stuff…but being on your own and not having anyone there with you, it was hard”

Mother aged 20-25, part of FNP

As discussed, younger parents are more wary of using formal support services, and this can be the case particularly for teenage parents^[26] These formal support services include antenatal classes and formal sources of information and advice. Growing Up in Scotland analysis shows that when accessing parenting support, younger mothers, and those aged under 20 in particular, seemed less sure of where to go and who to ask for advice. While slightly less wary, those in their early twenties were still less sure of asking for parenting support than mothers aged 25 and over.

“I feel like all young mum groups are for mums who are struggling or who have been abused by their partners or something and that wasn’t me, but I would go to other mum groups but they were all like 30 or 40 and I was 18. So I feel like if there were more groups that were for young mums but who weren’t struggling. It can make me feel a bit rubbish because I think people think I’m going through all that stuff when I’m not, but it wasn’t me.”

Mother under 20, part of FNP

Ensuring that pregnant women, including those under 25, access antenatal care early, has the potential to reduce inequalities of outcomes.^[27] However, this reluctance to engage with formal sources of support also occurs in the very early stages of pregnancy. A Public Health Scotland paper shows that although the rates of accessing antenatal care at an early stage of pregnancy have increased across all deprivation quintiles over time, the number of younger women who book early is more variable and generally this group are less likely to do so. ^[28] The same paper states that attitudes of staff can sometimes act as a barrier for young people accessing reproductive and sexual health, antenatal and maternity services.

Accessing support groups with other young mums brought a range of benefits. Participants discussed particular benefits around reducing isolation and feeling more connected with other mums in similar circumstances.

“It’s helpful knowing someone else had the same issues, one girl I know sees all her friends go out and is not going out herself. It’s useful to know you’re not on your own.”

Mother aged 20-25, part of FNP

The Family Nurse Partnership Programme (FNP) was created specifically with young mothers in mind. It is a licensed, intensive, preventative home-visiting programme, which aims to improve outcomes for young, first time, mothers and their children by enhancing self-efficacy.^[29] That is, ensuring that they are able to live confidently independent. The majority of clients are aged 16 to 19 years old when they begin the programme. They also tend to be living on a low income and most are not in work, education or training at the time of enrolment.^[30]

A review 10 years on from the introduction of the FNP in Scotland has demonstrated the effectiveness of this intensive, personalised support in improving mothers outcomes.^[31] Overall, one in ten (12%) clients who graduated from FNP were in paid employment at 6-months post-birth, with this increasing to one in four clients (25%) by 12 months post-birth and almost a third (30%) of clients by 24 months post-birth. Those aged 20 years and older at enrolment were more likely to be in paid employment than younger clients. Younger clients were more likely to be in full-time education. The proportion of FNP graduates in education post-birth increased from 9% in full time education 6 months post-birth to 14% in full time education 24 months post-birth. All those interviewed who were part of the Family Nurse Partnership (n=11) highlighted what a valuable source of support the programme was for them.

“She [Family Nurse] helps with all aspects of my life, both how wee man’s doing as well as how I’m doing. It’s good that she doesn’t only check about baby but also if I’m ok. I talk about how I’m feeling, and then she’ll offer stuff I need anything for the wee man”

Mother under 20, part of FNP

“I’ve got my family nurse and she’s a health professional you know, I trust her opinion rather than anyone else. I can message her 24 hours a day and she gets back to us when she can and then we meet up every 2 weeks…she [daughter] loves her”

Mother aged 20-25, part of FNP

The specially designed structure of FNP, based on the development of a close, trusting relationship between clients and Family Nurses, and a holistic, agenda-matched and strengths-based approach, are seen as central to Family Nurses' aim of fostering meaningful, long-lasting improvements in young women's lives, and in the lives of their children.^[32] The trusting relationship between clients and family nurses is vital to remove any fear mothers may have of approaching and engaging with formal sources of support. Some mothers fear that they may have their children removed from them, and it is this careful relationship management that aims to build understanding of a social worker's role.^[33]

An evaluation of the provision of FNP during COVID-19 supports these findings.^[34] While FNP continued to provide essential and invaluable support to clients during a time of ongoing crisis, practitioners felt that the move to virtual provision was difficult and that the model works best as a home delivery programme. Relationship building was impacted negatively in some cases and the risk of vulnerable clients becoming disengaged increased when it was harder to maintain these strong, trusted relationships.

Dealing with Stigma

There is a range of common stereotypes that surround young mothers, and particularly teenage mothers, which can strongly influence their experiences. There is an inclination to assume that they may have become pregnant by accident, and that they lack the ability and/or motivation to gain qualifications and employment.^[35] As one interviewee commented.

“My child is not a mistake. He was not planned, but he was not a mistake”

Mother under 25, part of FNP

It may go without saying that these assumptions often do not accurately reflect young mothers' own accounts of their lives. However, young mothers do report feeling judged by other people.

This judgement is evident in young mothers' experiences of navigating support and other services and may partly explain why they are reluctant to use them. For example, research amongst teenage mothers who grew up with experience of child welfare services in Norway found that when the mothers became pregnant, their relationship with these child welfare services changed from being one which was collaborative and supportive to being one where they felt their choices, and mothering capacities, were being questioned.^[36]

Similar experiences have been reported closer to home. For example, young parents in the Highlands report that people were prejudiced against them and that attitudes and behaviours of individual health visitors, doctors, social workers and bus drivers had been unhelpful. They felt that 'we are not heard or believed' ^[37] and reported a need for impartial advice and support from the professionals they encountered. Indeed, they especially valued professionals who did not judge them for their status as young parents. Health visitors and early years workers were particularly valued for their willingness to discuss a wide range of issues. While Citizens Advice Bureau and Calman Trust were felt to have given the young parents practical help with the bureaucracy they encountered in dealing with housing and benefit issues, ranging from filling in the forms to use of the computer or telephone.

Through our qualitative interviews, a few mothers touched on their experiences of feeling stigmatised by professional services and family members due to their age or family circumstances.

“I was looked down upon by the Council as a 15 or 16 year old, so I needed someone supporting me who was with me or I wouldn’t be listened to by the Council, doctors, anything really”

Mother under 20, part of FNP

These experiences further highlighted the value of the Family Nurses and third sector organisations who were found to be a non-judgemental route for support and information.

Pregnancy and birth can be transformative events. A research study in Australia explored whether young (mostly teenage) motherhood was linked to cumulative disadvantage or whether it was a positive transformative event.^[38] The impact of having a child appeared to differ depending on the level of precarity or uncertainty experienced by young mothers before childbirth. For those young mothers with the highest level of uncertainty before giving birth, having a child was more likely to be a positive transformative event. On the other side, for young mothers in less precarious situations, the transition into motherhood was not as positive.

Similarly, a number of qualitative studies have found that for many, especially disadvantaged young women, becoming an adolescent mother is associated with increased ambition around education and employment.^[39]

In Scotland, the Getting maternity services right for young parents aims to support young parents by reducing stigma while providing more appropriate support to fit their needs. Through supporting increased life chances, the intention is to help all young people have the opportunity to plan for a positive future, whether that includes becoming a parent - or otherwise. The progress reports published point towards a fall in pregnancy rate amongst young parents. ^{[40] [41]}