‘They’re Not This Kind of Thing That You Think They Are’: Patterns, Trends and Policy

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy and parenting have been a concern in the UK and in other nations where teenage birth rates are perceived to be a problem, such as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This concern remains despite teenage pregnancy rates having fallen steadily in those countries since 1970. However, long before teenage pregnancy became a policy issue, problematic motherhood took the form of lone and single mothers. This chapter offers a history of problematic motherhood from the late nineteenth century. It considers recent policy initiatives such as the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy of 1999–2010 and sets the UK picture in the context of international comparative data.