Babes up in arms

Homelessness and teenage motherhood are incomprehensible and unacceptable in today’s affluent Britain. Yet the two are often combined. Social exclusion and poor health for mother and baby are among the consequences that make this a major public health issue.

Current government policy is aimed at the causes of teenage pregnancy and homelessness – but little is known about how young mothers become homeless and what they actually feel about it.

In England and Wales, an estimated 18,000 teenage mothers do not live with their families – 7,000 of them 16- and 17-year-olds. In the area of our study, 46 babies were born to women younger than 18 in 2004, and 61 in 2005.