just because i'm a mum doesn't mean i'm going to be a complete bum: re-presenting...
TRANSCRIPT
“Just because I'm a mum doesn't mean I'm going to be a
complete bum”: re-presenting teenage mums in
the UK through life course analysis.
Louise HamptonUniversity of East Anglia
Great Yarmouth
© Ben Hampton
Teenage Mums
THE TEENAGE MUMS WHO BECOME NIGHTCLUBBING, 30-SOMETHING GRANNIESDaily Mail, 27.04.2008
I had implant because I felt like having sex says girl, 13The Telegraph, 08.02.12
Teen Pregnancy May be ContagiousDaily Express, 9.08.2011
Teenage Mums: the statistics
Teen pregnancy in 1971: 50.6%Teenage pregnancy rates in
1981: 30.9%Teenage rates in 2007: 26%In 2009 school aged mums:
0.16% (Duncan et al, 2010; YWCA, 2009)
Acceptable Life Courses
Delayed motherhood Higher education Home ownership Employment Marriage
The Study
Pseudonym of teen mum
Age when baby was
born
Occupation Residency
Libby 14 School Student Living with parents
Elizabeth 15 School Student Living with parents
Sharon 17 College Student and working part
time
Living with parents
Kadence 19 Employed as a full time carer
Living independently
Mae 18 College Student Living with parents
Natasha 17 College Student Homeless - living in
temporary housing
Lily 15 School Student Living with parents
Dominant discourses: teen mums as deviant life course
“Children having children”
“And I do think it’s time to address a problem that for too long has gone unspoken, the number of children having children. For it cannot be right, for a girl of sixteen, to get pregnant, be given the keys to a
council flat and be left on her own.” Gordon Brown 2009
“children having children...we have become far too tolerant of social failure” David Cameron 2007
Dominant Discourse: teen mums as deviant life course
Myth of planned pregnancy
Teen mums and the manipulation of the welfare system; Have a baby, get a council house
Natasha “its really boring and lonely just sitting by yourself in a room ... I'd rather live with my mum”
Teen Mums: The Reality
After Motherhood Impact of
becoming a mum Change in
behaviour Relationships and
lifestyle
Mae “He's made me look at life completely differently”
Elizabeth “before I had her I was really rough, really mouthy, a horrible naughty Chav...since having the baby I've grown up a lot”
Libby “i lost loads of friends...we just didn't have anything in common any more”
Teen mums: resisting the dominant life course
Sharon:“I've finished my first year and have had a break in between years to have my baby and get on track. I'm going back to college in September to finish my hairdressing qualification. In 4 weeks time I'm going back to work at the Co-op and am starting on 16 hours a week. I'm really looking forward to going back. I don't want my baby thinking “my mum is a bum””.
Elizabeth: “They show mums neglecting their kids and not everyone would behave like that. It shows us all to be bad... I want to prove to people that just because I'm a mum doesn't mean I'm going to be a complete bum.”
Policy implications
Pre motherhood
- Consistent approach to continuing learning for school aged teen mums
Post motherhood
- Tap into new found motivation by offering programmes of learning and training that provide adequate childcare
- Prevention message stereotypes teen mums and undermines policy to support teen mothers
