Background to the Research

• There is at present a dearth of research on young lone parents, particularly within the Northern Ireland context, despite the fact that they have been the subject of so much controversy. The impetus for this research therefore came from that beginning and sought to:
  • increase levels of knowledge about young parents;
  • improve understanding of the services available to lone parents;
  • increase understanding of young parents needs and wants;
  • improve the services being offered by Gingerbread and other voluntary and statutory agencies.
• This research was commissioned by Gingerbread Northern Ireland and funded by BBC Children in Need.

Research Approach

• The research embraced both qualitative and quantitative methodologies in a two stage design. Given the timescale for the project, the wish by Gingerbread to contact a large sample and the level of resourcing of the project, a questionnaire was considered the most appropriate tool for collection of largely quantitative data. This first stage constituted the main body of the research.
• Aiming to yield more qualitative data, the second stage of the research incorporated a focus group discussion meeting (Belfast) and semi-structured interviews (Newry and Mourne).
• The sample was recruited via snowball sampling wherein researcher(s) contacted a variety of agencies that have short term, small scale sporadic contact with individual lone parents.
• The postal questionnaire achieved an overall response rate of 30% whilst 5.8% and 12.5% respectively of respondents took part in the Focus Group Discussions in Belfast and Newry & Mourne.

Main Findings

Demographics

• 5,788 households in Northern Ireland are headed by a lone parent under the age of 25, only 7.3% of which are male.
• There were 1700 households in Belfast and 182 households in Newry and Mourne headed by a young lone parent.
• The research sample was entirely female, a third of which were teenagers, and almost half under twenty.
• 94.3% and 95.9% of lone mothers in Belfast and in Newry and Mourne respectively, were single never-married mothers.
• The majority of young lone parents had been a lone parent for two years or less and had only one child.
• 95% and 94% of respondents' children in Belfast and Newry and Mourne respectively, were aged five years of younger.

Income and Living Standards

• 90% of young lone mothers in both research areas were living on £100 a week or less.
• The majority of the sample's income came from benefit receipt, few mothers gained income through employment.
• The predominant source of income for mothers in both research areas was Income Support (95.8%).
• Child maintenance had little impact on the incomes of the mothers since only 21 mothers in Belfast and one mother in Newry and Mourne was in receipt of it, and the majority of those that were, were also in receipt of Income Support. Mother reported mcu difficulty living off their weekly incomes.
• 61.6% and 41.7% of mothers in Belfast and Newry and Mourne respectively were in debt, mainly to catalogues.
• The highest percentage of young lone mothers said that an extra £20-£29 a week would make living off their weekly incomes a lot easier, and would often mean the difference between coping and not coping both financially and emotionally.
• Almost half of all mothers in Belfast and two thirds of mothers in Newry and Mourne required further benefit information and advice.

Employment and Employment Intentions

• 69.9% of respondents in Belfast and 70.8% of those in Newry and Mourne had previously been in paid employment, although only 14% in Belfast and 4.2% in Newry and Mourne were currently employed.
• The majority of mothers were not in paid work and looking after their children full time. 16.6% of the total sample were in education and a further 5.9% were on employment schemes.
• The overwhelming majority of mothers in the sample indicated a desire to work in the future, although not until their children were older.
• Over 90% of mothers indicated that they needed support to help them to enter the labour market, including changing employer attitudes and help with interview skills.
• Top of the agenda for employment support was child care. Over 60% of mothers indicated that help with child care was needed to help them into employment.

Caring for Children

• There was an overwhelming reliance in the extended family for child care support. The latter was the main source of child care support for 73.2% and 62.5% of cases respectively in Belfast and Newry and Mourne.
• 64% of all mothers had used solely the extended family as a source of child care support.
• 59.3% and 58.3% of mothers in Belfast and Newry and Mourne respectively, indicated that they would like more child care support, mainly because they felt they needed a break from parenting. The cost of alternative child care other than that of the extended family was what prevented the majority of mothers seeking further support; (Belfast 70.9% and Newry and Mourne 57.1%).
• Health Visitors and parents were the main providers of advice in caring for children to mothers in the study. 81.3% and 87.1% of mothers in Belfast and Newry and Mourne respectively, desired further information on the caring and upbringing of their children.

Housing

• Over three quarters of young lone mothers in the sample lived with their parents before coming pregnant. 64.7% of mothers in Belfast and 66.7% of mothers in Newry and Mourne has moved house since becoming pregnant. Further, 18% of mothers in Belfast and 20.8% of mothers in Newry and Mourne had moved more than once since becoming pregnant.
• The majority of mothers were living in NIHE accommodation, although 36% and 25% of mothers in Belfast and Newry and Mourne respectively, were living at home with their parents. Lone mothers aged 16-19 were more likely to remain with their parents for support offered there.
• 73.4% and 58.3% of mothers in Belfast and Newry and Mourne respectively, were happy with their current accommodation. The main determinant of happiness was living with or near the family whilst unhappiness' with accommodation was mainly attributed to lack of space in the accommodation or location of the accommodation.
• Mothers contact with housing support agencies was overwhelmingly limited to the NIHE. Few mothers had ever heard of alternative support agencies.
• 20.8% of mothers experiencing difficulties in moving house in Belfast had to wait one year or more to be housed in permanent NIHE accommodation, whilst in Newry and Mourne this figure stood at 50% of mothers experiencing the same difficulties.

Health and Well-being

• The majority of mothers in the sample reported their physical and mental health as 'very good' or 'good'. Although one third of the sample reported their physical and mental health as 'fair', 'poor' or 'very poor'.
• Poor mental health was largely related to having debts, which occurred most frequently amongst young mothers living alone.
• Sleeping problems and high levels of fatigue and depression were experienced amongst a sizable number of mothers.
• 28.1% and 29.2% of mothers in Belfast and Newry and Mourne respectively, reported that they were 'always' or 'often' lonely, which was in the main related to going out less than once a month.
• Money matters were rated as the biggest stressor in the mother's lives and also worries about parenting skills.
• The highest percentage of mothers in the sample said they confided most in their friends about their problems. The attitudes of parents, relatives and friends to the respondents remained largely unchanged since they had become lone parents. However where parental attitudes had worsened, this had a negative effect on the physical health of the respondents.
• Attitudes towards health and social welfare professionals were rated as particularly positive, although mothers in Belfast pointed to Doctors sometimes being ignorant of their circumstances. Health visitors were considered to be the 'most helpful' health and social welfare professionals.
• helpful towards Housing and Social Security Officers were rated poorly, with many of the respondents rating their attitudes as poor and/or negative.
• Few mothers were members of a lone mothers support group although 40% and 54.8% of mothers in Belfast and Newry and Mourne respectively, said that they would be interested in joining one.

Schooling

• Almost a quarter (24.%) and just over a fifth (20.8%) of mothers in Belfast and Newry and Mourne respectively had become pregnant whilst at school.
• Hours of Home Tuition provided before and after the birth were disconcertingly low. 56.3% of mothers in Belfast and 50% of mothers in Newry and Mourne received no tuition before the birth and 75% of mothers in both areas received no tuition after the birth of the baby. Of those who had received Home Tuition 65% of mothers in Belfast and 100% of mothers in Newry and Mourne found it useful in making progress with their studies.
• Respondents in Newry and Mourne did not feel that they had missed out on opportunities to take exams because of their pregnancy, however 62.5% of mothers in Belfast felt they had.
• 51.6% of mothers in Belfast reported that their school had given them no support , compared to 25% of mothers in Newry and Mourne. Also, whilst the all the mothers in Newry and Mourne would opt to complete their education at school if given the choice, the majority of mothers in Belfast opted for a form of school provision other than that of the school.