Teenage childbearing: young sole mothers challenge the stereotypes

Teenage sole mothers in receipt of welfare benefits are seriously affected by systematic and radical restructuring of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s state welfare system since 2008. With few exceptions, the changes oblige beneficiaries to prioritise obtaining paid work. To address questions of how welfare changes and socio-cultural context in Aotearoa New Zealand are experienced by teenage mothers we conducted a narrative study of 10 young women’s stories of sole mothering as beneficiaries. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit young mothers who were attending, or had recently attended a specialist school for teen parents. Thematic analysis of interview narratives represented experiences of financial and social deprivation, negative stereotyping, stigma and resistance. In contrast to the government’s explicit goal of getting welfare recipients into paid employment, the teenage mothers in our study placed full-time mothering as their principal duty. They also acknowledged the material and social advantages of entering paid employment, and were committed to working but only when their child was ‘settled and ready’ – a decision they understood to be their responsibility.