« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report uses data from the Growing up in Scotland ( GUS) study to explore the contribution of specific measures of advantage and disadvantage in relation to a number of specific health related behaviours for parent and child and, in doing so, seeks to identify the characteristics of more vulnerable and more resilient families. Findings are based on the first sweep of GUS, which involved interviews with the main carers of 5,217 children aged 0-1 years old and 2,859 children aged 2-3 years old, carried out between April 2005 and March 2006. Analysis in this report has been restricted to the birth cohort only.
Patterns of advantage and disadvantage
The data demonstrated clear inter-relationships between age of mother at the sample child's birth, family type (that is being in a couple family, being a lone parent living with other adults, or a lone parent living only with children), socio-economic classification, household income and area deprivation. It is clear that age and family type themselves are important factors contributing to a mother's relative social position with concentrated disadvantage evident, in particular, amongst mothers aged under 25, and lone parents.
Compared with older mothers, younger mothers (particularly those aged under 25) were:
- more likely to be living in lower income households and to be in receipt of state benefits (85% of mothers aged under 20 were living in households in one of the two lowest income groups (with annual incomes of less than £13,750) compared with around 27% of mothers aged 30 to 34 and those aged 35 or older)
- more likely to be lone parents (67% of mothers in the youngest age group were lone parents compared with just 9% of mothers aged 35 or older)
- less likely to be employed (20% of mothers aged 35 or older were in full-time employment compared with 5% of mothers aged under 20)
- more likely to have fewer educational qualifications (80% of mothers aged 30 to 34 had qualifications to at least Higher grade compared with 34% of mothers aged under 20; 19% of mothers aged under 20 had no educational qualifications at all, compared with 9% of mothers aged 35 or older)
- more likely to be renting their home from the local authority (50% of those aged under 20 compared with 7% of those aged 35 or older)
- less likely to live in an area of low deprivation (24% of mothers aged 30 to 34 lived in an area in the least deprived quintile of the deprivation index compared with just 4% of mothers aged under 20 and 6% of mothers aged 20 to 24).
Compared to mothers in couple families, lone mothers (particularly those who did not live with other adults, such as their own parents) were:
- more likely to be living in lower income households and to be in receipt of state benefits at the time of the interview (88% of lone mothers who were not living with other adults were in one of the two lowest income groups compared with 30% of couple families)
- less likely to be employed (28% of lone mothers who did not live with other adults were employed compared with 65% of mothers in couple families)
- more likely to have fewer educational qualifications (78% of mothers in couple families were educated to at least Higher grade level compared with around 46% of lone mothers in each lone parent group)
- more likely to be renting their home from the local authority (51% of lone mothers who were not living with other adults compared with 13% of couple families)
- less likely to live in an area of low deprivation (20% of mothers in couple families lived in an area in the least deprived quintile of the deprivation index compared with just 2% of lone mothers who did not live with other adults).
Differences in maternal behaviour by measures of social disadvantage
Breastfeeding
Younger mothers, lone mothers, those with fewer educational qualifications, on low incomes, and those living in areas of relative deprivation were less likely to breastfeed. Maternal level of education was proven to be the strongest predictor of breastfeeding.
Attendance at ante-natal classes
Amongst first-time mothers, non-attendance at ante-natal classes was associated with younger age, lower income, socio-economic classification and lower educational attainment. First-time motherhood had the strongest association was attendance at classes but maternal age at the child's birth emerged as the next strongest predictor of attendance at ante-natal classes.
Smoking
Living in social housing, having a home in a deprived area and lack of educational qualifications were all similarly strongly predictive of smoking. Renting from the local authority was the strongest predictor.
Resilience amongst disadvantaged mothers
To explore resilience amongst mothers considered to be 'disadvantaged', two sets of analysis were undertaken - one restricted to mothers aged under 25 at the time of birth, the other restricted to lone parents. Those young mothers and lone parents who demonstrated 'positive' behaviours - breastfeeding, attendance at ante-natal classes, not smoking, - were compared with those young mothers and lone parents who demonstrated 'negative' behaviours.
Breastfeeding
Those younger mothers who breastfed were characterised by relative social and economic advantage: they were more likely than those who did not breastfeed to be in couple families (64% of breastfeeding young mothers were in couple families compared with 44% of non-breastfeeding younger mothers); to be owner occupiers and not social renters; and to have attained a higher level of education. Educational qualifications at Higher grade or above was the strongest predictor of breastfeeding within this group of younger mothers.
Lone parents who breastfed were more likely than lone mothers who did not to be older, to be living in areas of lower deprivation and to be more highly educated. Being educated to Higher grade or above was the strongest predictor of breastfeeding amongst lone parents:
Attendance at ante-natal classes
Those younger mothers who attended ante-natal classes were also characterised by relative social and economic advantage. After controlling for first-time motherhood (by far the strongest predictor of attendance at such classes), higher educational attainment, having a higher household income, and living in an area of lower deprivation were all positively and independently associated with ante-natal class attendance by mothers aged under 25.
Amongst lone parents, age was a strong predictor of attendance as was working full-time.
Smoking
Living in a couple household, being an owner occupier and having educational qualifications were all independently and positively associated with non-smoking amongst younger mothers. Being educated to Higher grade or beyond was again the strongest predictor.
The pattern for lone parents was slightly different: age was not significant but lone mothers with higher grades or above, those who worked full-time and those in managerial/ professional or intermediate occupations were all less likely to smoke.
Conclusion
This report provides further evidence of the interrelationship between age, young motherhood, family type and a range of measures of socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. Maternal age and family type were found to be closely interrelated and both strongly associated with socio-economic disadvantage, with concentrated disadvantage evident in mothers under 25 and lone parents who do not live with other adults. These measures were also closely associated with health-related behaviours including likelihood of breastfeeding, attending ante-natal classes and smoking amongst mothers. Even amongst more disadvantaged groups, positive health-related behaviours were connected to relative social and economic advantage with level of maternal education featuring prominently.
The measures of disadvantage used in these analyses are only part of the overall picture of what influences maternal health related behaviour and the models used do not fully explain these behaviours. The longitudinal nature of GUS will enable the longer term effect of disadvantage and changes in socio-economic circumstances to be tracked, as well as the ameliorating effect of a range of different services.
« Previous | Contents | Next »