They were often single mums who split up and lost contact with the fathers soon afterwards. It sounds like a classic story of teenage pregnancy. Now in their twenties, they are juggling the demands of parenthood, relatively new relationships, part-time (and sometimes even flexible full-time) work, and final year university education. They are a long way from that classic story of teenage pregnancy, of feckless mothers sponging off the system, unqualified and alienated from purposeful employment. It is that story that is beloved of theorists of the underclass, New Labour's position on social exclusion and the Conservatives' analysis of the broken society, in all of which young mums feature very prominently.
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