Abstract

Whilst the numbers of young people who become parents in their teenage years is declining, there remains a stigma associated with young parenthood. Young parents disrupt socially constructed ideas of the family and challenge ideals of childhood. It is common for young parents to have experienced social exclusion and poverty as well as to have relatively low educational achievement prior to parenthood. Less common though is the idea that becoming a parent in late teenage years may enable the development of aspiration, promote maturity, responsibility and potentially lead to enhanced life chances for these young people. This paper draws on interview data with ten young women and five young men who were parents and aged between 16-19 years. In addition findings from interviews carried out with a range of professionals working in the field of teenage pregnancy inform this paper. Young people describe the transformative effect of parenthood on their young lives and challenge accepted views of negative impact of becoming a young parent.