As noted above, not all young mothers were happy with what they had done since leaving school and for some that was because they had faced barriers that could not be overcome to enable them to continue in education.
31 Four mothers mentioned two forms of support that they received.
When the mothers were asked specifically about any barriers they had faced, 18 of the 30 stated that they had not faced any. Perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of women who had stated having faced none were happy with what they had achieved since leaving school. For the remaining 12, the lack of support discussed above, a lack of childcare and a lack of transport (often funds provided would only allow for 2 or 3 days a week not fulltime) were the three key barriers that these mothers had faced.
Childcare
As expected childcare was an issue raised by a number of young women as having prevented them from achieving what they wanted after leaving school.
For some the financial aspect of paying for childcare has been the biggest barrier32, as one mother discusses below:
Interviewer: Are you involved in any education, training or employment at the current time?
Well I knew I wanted to go back to college and do my exams again but that won’t be possible till he’s in school so… Not at the moment. Cause I can’t afford childcare or nothing for him and my family work so without that there was nothing I could do. So the one thing that has stopped me going for the last 3 years is childcare. Louisa, 18, Area H.
Another young mother was not able to access money for childcare until a certain age and therefore had to delay her plans and after taking up employment as the only financial option, a return to education in the longer-term may be forgotten:
Well I wanted to go to college, and I’d still like to do an IT course at college… And you’ve got to stop here [generic student support unit] when you are 16 so I won’t be able to come here next year.
Interviewer: Do you foresee any barriers to achieving those goals?
Yes, Childcare. Well I cannot access any money for childcare until I am 17 so I cannot do anything for another year after this one. I cannot do anything without childcare. So I’m a part-time shop assistant at the moment so I’ll probably just do that full time. Lucy, 15, Area C.
32 This is something that hopefully Care to Learn will prevent from happening in the near future.
Sixteen to 18 year old teenage parents could apply for financial assistance (up to £5000 per year per child) with childcare and transport costs from August 2003 and all under 19 teenage parents from August 2004.
Other problems with childcare were varied and yet amounted to the same outcome, which was an inability to continue in education when the mothers wanted to. For some women who had chosen to take time out to be a full-time mum before going back to education, childcare was perceived to be one of the biggest barriers, as this mother states below:
I’ve been a full time mum and I’m thinking of going back to college, maybe Maths and English A levels. I’m good at maths but I prefer English.
But childcare will be the issue for me about going to college. If I can get that then it should be ok.
Interviewer: What childcare would you ideally like?
I guess nursery or crèche, whatever is available. I just want to get me A levels and then get a decent job. Don’t know what but something interesting. Louise, 17, Area J.
Finally for some mothers who have university aspirations beyond their post-16 college education, childcare is again perceived to be the biggest cost barrier:
I started college part time. Doing a media and business course. I’d like to go to uni later but that will be expensive so it might have to wait until she’s in school and then I won’t have childcare costs. Debbi, 16, Area D.
With the introduction of Care to Learn many of the issues related to the cost of childcare should be overcome. However, few women (who had childcare problems) indicated that they had support or help in finding out what childcare they could access and therefore this will be key to the success of young women’s ability to utilise available childcare. A high level of perception that childcare will not be easy to access or available may be enough to deter young women from asking for help in this area.
Transport
Although a potential barrier for mothers attending any post-16 educational location, problems with transport were particularly apparent for the specialist units. As noted in previous sections, many young women would have not been able to attend if they could not have used the minibus or taxis provided by a specialist unit. The LEA only provides this transport as long as a young woman is of compulsory school age, even if they are taking ‘compensatory’ compulsory level education. Therefore, situations would occur where a unit mini-bus, with
spare places in it, would have to drive past the house of a post-16 mother because legally they were not insured to pick up anyone beyond compulsory school age. One mother talked about how this was impacting upon her work:
I like it but I can only come three days a week now because I can’t get the minibus anymore because I am too old. I used to come five. I’ve fallen behind a bit because I can’t come the five days. They are helping me to catch up but it would be easier to be able to just come five days. Helen, 16, Area A.
Transport was however an issue for other areas without units, particularly for those in more rural areas, where transport to colleges for example was not as frequent and therefore more often very busy. As one mother notes below:
[The problem] for college it’s transport, from where I am now it’s getting there, especially the college bus, because it’s always packed out anyway.
The last time I was standing up the whole way with two young children, it’s really ridiculous how ignorant people can be sometimes, not offering to help. Heather, 18, Area G.