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CHAPTER TWO Patterns of advantage and disadvantage

Introduction

2.1 Preliminary analysis of sweep 1 data for the overview report (Anderson et al, 2007) demonstrated that maternal age, socio-economic position, marital and cohabitation status, and educational attainment were closely inter-related and were, in turn, strongly associated with child and maternal behaviours and outcomes. In this chapter, we consider these relationships in more detail to map out more clearly the complex and inter-linked patterns of advantage and disadvantage that exist across the sample.

Differences in socio-economic and demographic characteristics by maternal age

2.2 Younger mothers (aged less than 25 at the birth of the sample child) were generally found to be in a less advantaged position, in a number of ways, than were older mothers. For example, Table 2 details levels of household income and receipt of selected benefits by maternal age at the sample child's birth. The data show that younger mothers, particularly those aged under 25, were significantly more likely to be living in lower income households and to be in receipt of state benefits at the time of the interview than mothers aged 25 or older were. Eighty-five percent 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. In contrast, 30% of mothers aged 35 or older were living in the highest income group (annual income of £33,572 or above) compared with around1% of mothers aged under 20 and 4% of those aged 20 to 24.

2.3 Considerable differences are noted, in particular, between the under 20 and 20 to 24 age groups, between those aged under 25 and those 25 or over, and those under 30 compared with those aged 30 or older. The income characteristics of the 30 to 34 group, and those aged 35 and older are fairly similar.

2.4 Younger mothers were considerably more likely to be lone parents than older mothers were. The data in Table 3 shows that 67% of mothers in the youngest age group were lone parents compared with just 9% of mothers aged 35 or older. Examination of household relationships contained within the sweep 1 overview report (Anderson et al, 2007) indicated however, that although many young mothers were lone parents in the sense that they were not cohabiting with a spouse or partner, many of them lived with other adults, often their own parents. The second measure of family type in Table 3 therefore separates lone parents who live with other adults from lone parents who do not live with other adults ³. The data here show that younger lone mothers were considerably more likely to be living with other adults than were older lone mothers, indeed half of all lone parents aged under 20 lived with other adults.

Table 2 Household income and receipt of selected benefits by age of mother at birth of cohort child

Base: Natural mothers in the birth cohort

Table 3 Family type by age of mother at birth of cohort child

Base: Natural mothers in the birth cohort

2.5 Patterns in maternal employment and educational qualifications also varied considerably by mother's age as seen in Table 4. In terms of employment status, younger mothers were less likely to be working either full-time or part-time than older mothers were. One in five (20%) mothers aged 35 or older were in full-time employment compared with one in twenty (5%) mothers aged under 20. Differences in employment status are also, inevitably, reflected in differences in NS- SEC. Due to their increased likelihood of being unemployed, younger mothers were more likely to fall into the semi-routine and routine classification than older mothers were. In contrast, older mothers were significantly more likely to be in occupations classed as managerial or professional. Younger mothers also tended to have fewer educational qualifications than did older mothers - around 80% of mothers aged 30 to 34 and 35 or older had Higher grade qualifications or a qualification beyond Higher grade compared with 34% of mothers aged under 20. Indeed, one in five (19%) mothers in the youngest age group had no educational qualifications at all, compared with one in ten (9%) mothers in the oldest age group.

Table 4 Maternal employment status and highest educational qualification by age of
mother at birth of cohort child

Base: Natural mothers in the birth cohort

2.6 The housing and neighbourhood characteristics of younger mothers were also distinct from that of older mothers. Those in the younger age groups were significantly more likely than those in the older age groups to be renting their home from the local authority (50% of those aged under 20 compared with 7% of those aged 35 or older) whereas older mothers were more likely than younger mothers were to own their home or be buying it with a mortgage (83% of those in the oldest age group compared with 14% of those in the youngest age group). Older mothers tended to live in areas of lower deprivation than did younger mothers. Around one-quarter of mothers aged 30 to 34 and 35 or older lived in an area in the least deprived quintile of the deprivation index compared with just 4% of mothers aged under 20.

Table 5 Tenure and area deprivation by age of mother at birth of cohort child

Base: Natural mothers in the birth cohort

Differences in socio-economic and demographic characteristics by family type

2.7 As a high proportion of young mothers are lone parents, and because of the relatively disadvantaged characteristics of the majority of young mothers, we would expect that lone parents, as a social group, will portray similar social status to young mothers. Analysis of the data confirms that lone mothers are significantly more disadvantaged socially and economically than mothers in couple families. For example, lone mothers, particularly those who were not living with other adults, were significantly more likely to be residing in lower income households and to be in receipt of state benefits at the time of the interview than mothers in couple families (Table 6). Almost ninety percent 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 (although this still involves quite a large number of mothers and children). Lone parents living with other adults appear to be slightly less advantaged in income terms than lone parents living only with children according to these data. These differences are largely explained by the equivalised income variable being used which is adjusted for the household composition. Households where lone parents live with other adults will require higher incomes to achieve the same material living standards as households where lone parents live only with children ⁴.

Table 6 Household income and receipt of selected benefits by family type

Base: Natural mothers in the birth cohort

2.8 Striking differences were also observed in the extent to which lone mothers were employed and their level of education when compared with mothers in couple families. The data in Table 7 show that lone parents were less likely to be working than parents in couple families, and that lone parents who did not live with other adults were less likely to be working than those who did live with other adults. This latter distinction may be explained, at least in part, by the more immediate availability of informal childcare for lone mothers who are living, for example, with their own parents (the child's grandparents) allowing them to more easily take up employment. Mothers in couple families were considerably more likely to be in managerial or professional occupations than lone mothers were. However, there were no significant differences in NS- SEC between the two lone parent groups, neither were there differences between these groups in terms of educational qualifications although they were each similarly distinct from mothers in couple families in this respect. For example, 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.

Table 7 Maternal employment status and highest educational qualification by family
type

Base: Natural mothers in the birth cohort

2.9 Lone mothers were significantly more likely to be renting from the local authority and less likely to own or be buying their home than were mothers in couple families (Table 8). A little over 7 in 10 (74%) couple families owned their home or were buying it with a mortgage compared with one in ten (12%) lone mothers who did not live with other adults. Tenure was a further measure where the two lone parent groups were distinct, with those lone parents who lived with other adults less likely to be renting, and indeed more likely to be in some kind of 'rent-free' arrangement, than were lone parents who did not live with other adults. This is perhaps not unusual given that in many of the latter cases, the respondent is living with her own parents. Couple families tended to be living in less deprived areas than lone parent families did. One in five (20%) couple families lived in an area in the least deprived quintile compared with around one in twenty (7%) lone mothers who lived with other adults and one in fifty (2%) lone mothers who did not live with other adults.

Table 8 Tenure and area deprivation by family type

Base: Natural mothers in the birth cohort

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