Working Paper

Supporting Teen Families: An Assessment of Youth Childbearing in Australia and Early Interventions to Improve Education Outcomes of Young Parents

Published: 2017

Non-Technical Summary:

While the rate of births to teenage parents continue to decline in Australia, adolescent pregnancy and parenthood remain a core social and public health concern. This report firstly describes the context of Australian teenage pregnancy and parenthood, and outlines some of the challenges and barriers teenage parents face before and after childbirth. Secondly, we identify and describe existing programs that work to support pregnant and parenting teenagers reconnect with their schooling and further their education.

Recent Australian research of patterns, drivers, and consequences of teenage pregnancy and parenthood show that rates vary across different states, regions, and sub-groups. Rates of teenage pregnancy and parenthood are at their highest in remote and rural areas, and highest among adolescents who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. Adolescent parenthood is related to complex disadvantage, across multiple forms, including health and wellbeing, education, and employment. The disadvantage is evident prior to childbearing, and is a risk-factor of teenage pregnancy and parenthood. These disadvantages are seen to persist over the mother’s life, and may be transmitted to their children.

Australian research highlights the relationship between disadvantage, teenage pregnancy and parenthood, and low educational goals and achievements. With this in mind, we conducted a rapid review of programs that aimed to support adolescent parents in the educational domain. We used specific search criteria, which was limited to academic literature and rigorous evaluations of the programs. As such, we found no evaluations of programs within Australia, with the majority occurring in the US. The review found that, when adolescent parents participate in programs, many programs are seen to achieve positive impacts on education-related aspects. Some common interventions across programs that support educational aspirations and achievement include, but are not limited to, intense case management, provision of childcare, and flexible learning arrangements.

Overall, we suggest that future programs of this kind should be built on existing evidence of successful programs, though we also note the need to gather stronger evidence. We find that programs should seek to cater for the specific strengths and needs of the individuals, and recognise the differences among teenage parents. Programs should endeavour to include fathers and to continue building on what little knowledge there is of their situations as teenage parents. Programs should aim to include culturally sensitive and specific approaches to see the most success. Research in the Australian context should be increased, to gather strong evidence of programs that work in context.

Authors

Heidi Hoffmann

Centre Friend

Sergi Vidal