Lisa Arai
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847420749
- eISBN:
- 9781447303688
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847420749.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
In the last decades of the 20th century, successive British governments have regarded adolescent pregnancy and childbearing as a significant public health and social problem. Youthful pregnancy was ...
More
In the last decades of the 20th century, successive British governments have regarded adolescent pregnancy and childbearing as a significant public health and social problem. Youthful pregnancy was once tackled by attacking young, single mothers but New Labour, through its Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, linked early pregnancy to social exclusion rather than personal morality and aimed, instead, to reduce teenage pregnancy and increase young mothers' participation in education and employment. However, the problematisation of early pregnancy has been contested, and it has been suggested that teenage mothers have been made scapegoats for wider, often unsettling, social and demographic changes. The re-evaluation of early pregnancy as problematic means that, in some respects, teenage pregnancy has been ‘made’ and ‘unmade’ as a problem. Focusing on the period from the late-1990s to the present in the UK, this book examines who is likely to have a baby as a teenager, the consequences of early motherhood and how teenage pregnancy is dealt with in the media. The book argues that society's negative attitude to young mothers is likely to marginalise an already excluded group, and that efforts should be focused primarily on supporting young mothers and their children.Less
In the last decades of the 20th century, successive British governments have regarded adolescent pregnancy and childbearing as a significant public health and social problem. Youthful pregnancy was once tackled by attacking young, single mothers but New Labour, through its Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, linked early pregnancy to social exclusion rather than personal morality and aimed, instead, to reduce teenage pregnancy and increase young mothers' participation in education and employment. However, the problematisation of early pregnancy has been contested, and it has been suggested that teenage mothers have been made scapegoats for wider, often unsettling, social and demographic changes. The re-evaluation of early pregnancy as problematic means that, in some respects, teenage pregnancy has been ‘made’ and ‘unmade’ as a problem. Focusing on the period from the late-1990s to the present in the UK, this book examines who is likely to have a baby as a teenager, the consequences of early motherhood and how teenage pregnancy is dealt with in the media. The book argues that society's negative attitude to young mothers is likely to marginalise an already excluded group, and that efforts should be focused primarily on supporting young mothers and their children.
Lisa Arai
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847420749
- eISBN:
- 9781447303688
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847420749.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
The election of the New Labour government in a landslide victory in 1997 marked the end of nearly two decades of Conservative rule. The party was voted into power again in 2001. In May 2005, Labour ...
More
The election of the New Labour government in a landslide victory in 1997 marked the end of nearly two decades of Conservative rule. The party was voted into power again in 2001. In May 2005, Labour achieved a historical party first: its third consecutive term in office. Early in its first term, the New Labour government made a reduction in teenage pregnancy one of the foci of its reforming policy programme. Teenage Pregnancy, the seminal policy document that introduced the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS), reflected and embodied New Labour philosophy, with its focus on finding a third way on teenage pregnancy and its recognition of the deleterious effects of social exclusion on the lives of individuals and communities. This chapter discusses the three reasons advanced in Teenage Pregnancy for youthful conceptions, i.e., structural (‘low expectations’), technical/educational (‘ignorance’ about contraception and the reality of parenthood), and social or cultural (‘mixed messages’ about sex and parenthood). These and other features of Teenage Pregnancy are also discussed.Less
The election of the New Labour government in a landslide victory in 1997 marked the end of nearly two decades of Conservative rule. The party was voted into power again in 2001. In May 2005, Labour achieved a historical party first: its third consecutive term in office. Early in its first term, the New Labour government made a reduction in teenage pregnancy one of the foci of its reforming policy programme. Teenage Pregnancy, the seminal policy document that introduced the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS), reflected and embodied New Labour philosophy, with its focus on finding a third way on teenage pregnancy and its recognition of the deleterious effects of social exclusion on the lives of individuals and communities. This chapter discusses the three reasons advanced in Teenage Pregnancy for youthful conceptions, i.e., structural (‘low expectations’), technical/educational (‘ignorance’ about contraception and the reality of parenthood), and social or cultural (‘mixed messages’ about sex and parenthood). These and other features of Teenage Pregnancy are also discussed.
Lisa Arai
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847420749
- eISBN:
- 9781447303688
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847420749.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
This book explores the representation of teenage pregnancy as a problem in UK and the ways in which policy makers, academics, and the media have responded to it. This book examines who is likely to ...
More
This book explores the representation of teenage pregnancy as a problem in UK and the ways in which policy makers, academics, and the media have responded to it. This book examines who is likely to have a baby as a teenager, the consequences of early motherhood and how teenage pregnancy is dealt with in the media. The main aim of the TPS is to reduce teenage conception rates. However, promoting opportunities for, and offering support to, young mothers is secondary. It is recommended that future policy efforts may be better placed and more effective if they are focused primarily on promoting the well-being of young mothers, and fathers as well, and their children and less on the depiction of teenage pregnancy as a problem.Less
This book explores the representation of teenage pregnancy as a problem in UK and the ways in which policy makers, academics, and the media have responded to it. This book examines who is likely to have a baby as a teenager, the consequences of early motherhood and how teenage pregnancy is dealt with in the media. The main aim of the TPS is to reduce teenage conception rates. However, promoting opportunities for, and offering support to, young mothers is secondary. It is recommended that future policy efforts may be better placed and more effective if they are focused primarily on promoting the well-being of young mothers, and fathers as well, and their children and less on the depiction of teenage pregnancy as a problem.
