Policy for teen mothers is based on little more than assumptions and misunderstandings

While the main focus has been on strategies to prevent teenage conception, there is recognition of a need to support teenage parents.

The way the "risks" are perceived by policy-makers is clearly set out in numerous policy documents.

Teenage motherhood is continually associated with issues such as higher levels of infant mortality, poorer health than average mothers, poverty, and relationship breakdown. The children of teenage mothers are said to be more likely to become teenage parents themselves.

Furthermore, the young mothers considered to be the most susceptible to these risks are those not living with their families.

While such issues are important, research increasingly shows that the way risk for this group is conceptualised within policy is limited as it rests on a set of assumptions and misunderstandings that fail to capture the reality of many of these young women's lives.