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 ...
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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/9781847420749.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
This chapter focuses on the decontextualised view of teenage pregnancy in the UK. It discusses the use of sometimes inappropriate comparisons between nations and a lack of understanding about the ...
More
This chapter focuses on the decontextualised view of teenage pregnancy in the UK. It discusses the use of sometimes inappropriate comparisons between nations and a lack of understanding about the relationship between early conception and aspects of the British demographic, social, and economic landscape. It also discusses the relationship of sexual openness and sex education with low rates of teenage conception. This chapter also discusses teenage motherhood as a normative, and even positive, experience.Less
This chapter focuses on the decontextualised view of teenage pregnancy in the UK. It discusses the use of sometimes inappropriate comparisons between nations and a lack of understanding about the relationship between early conception and aspects of the British demographic, social, and economic landscape. It also discusses the relationship of sexual openness and sex education with low rates of teenage conception. This chapter also discusses teenage motherhood as a normative, and even positive, experience.
