Gordon Browns plans for 16 & 17 year old mums?

[BrokenBananaTantrum]

I am watching Gordons speech and he has just said that 16 and 17 year old mums will now not be given council houses and left on there own but will need to go and live in supervised houses.

What do we think about this??

True, don't know about the age limit for credit, I would think 18, but if the girl get's pregnant at 17, that baby is still young when she is 18 and then she can start an account with bright house or whoever those awful 33% interest rate bandits are.

always - there are so many out there like you and others on here that are clever enough no to rack up loads of credit but just to use it to make sure you have an emergency plan in place etc.

But there are also the ones like a girl up the road from me who has one toddler and another baby on the way, doesn't work and has no partner (I know this as I've talked to her a few times at baby clinic) but has a new hair cut/colour and a different brand new pushchair every time I see her, so she is obviously getting money or maybe credit from somewhere and it isn't all being swallowed up by the bills. I know I couldn't afford the selection of pushchairs she has and I can't remember the last time I had my hair cut LOL! I can't comment on her money situation as I don't know, but it does make me wonder, and to some who work their asses off all week and still barely break even, it can make you think - 'what am I doing wrong here?!'

In Holland teen mums are made a ward of their parents until their kids reach schoolage. A bloody fantstic idea that stops kids having kids just to escape their own dysfunctional upbringings or as a way of assuming the trappings of adulthood without having to pay for them. I fully expect to be flamed for this!!

my dd is having a baby ,she will be 2 months off being 18,its ok moaning about single parents etc,but they dint get pregnant by there selfs did they ,

TheMightyToosh You can't know for definite they are brand new. And I've had loads of pushchairs but I always sell them to buy a new one so I'm never spending any more money than I already have IYSWIM.

Poppet That's hardly fair on the parents though is it especially if they have other children to pay for and limited space in their house. They didn't get pregnant did they.

Someone mentioned earlier that America was worse for teenage pregancies. However wasnt there a particular state in America that cut all benefits for teenage mothers and the pregnancy rate dropped alarmingly? Im sure I read about this a few years ago,

Re the point about thinking £100 a week to live off is a good economic decision, the ones who genuinely think this are most likely to be living with their parents rent-free at the time they make the decision. £100 a week sounds like a lot of money to someone who perhaps gets £10 a week pocket money, and with no concept of the cost of food, bills, nappies, etc it is easy to have the stereotypical teenage attitude of "I am invincible - I know it all - I could live on that easily!".

I think it's a good idea, and I speak as the daughter of a single, teenage parent. I was brought up in my grandparents house, and I believe my life would have been very different if I had been taken to live with my mum on the local council estate.

ilovesprouts, no, young girls don't get pregnant on their own. But they really should be aware that a lot of the time, they will be left alone to shoulder the responsibility, emotionally and financially. Young boys who get girls pregnant very often bugger off. It's not right, but it happens. And I will be making sure my dd knows this.

Ilovesprouts, no of course they didnt get pregnant by themselves but given the young age of teenage mums the majority wont have been in stable long term relationships where they were both emotional and financially ready to support a child. Hence the couple part or maybe were never actually a couple in the first place.

Protection against pregnancy can be gotten from many places and is free from many, if used properly those who dont actually plan to get pregnancy wont.

What freaks me out the most about this suggestion is that a few months back the BNP were suggesting it. Of course, their 'White Paper' was full of the usual right wing slavering misogyny with lots of suggestions about 'skirt length inspections' and 'modest behaviour' ie some impotent old nutter's pet fantasy about controlling young women.
I can see that there are circumstances in which some sort of supported housing for young mothers might be a good idea - companionship, someone to ask for advice, additional education etc. but I think in practice it would end up being run on unpleasantly punitive lines (insistence on curfews and a ban on having partners round to visit, for instance) or it would just be a mess: shoddily-built rundown properties, the 'parenthood skills and training' consisting of a few recipe leaflets and a talk once a week by some well-meaning but clueless volunteer. And this is just the type of project that the Government would gleefully hand over to 'faith organisations' who would fuck it up completely.

Im glad I found this thread as this has seriously pissed me off.

What about the people who made these girls pregnant? Are they going to be supervised to ensure they provide for their child and become a good parent. I doubt it!

No all teenagers who become mothers are bad. Some of them may do a better job than older people.

Grrr

Anyway, rant over!

well said above poster !!

girlylala - where did anybody say that all teen mothers are bad?

& I tried to raise the point of teen fathers earlier, however my post did not post for some reason (only just realised this and was wondering why everyone ignored it )

On the Holland thing, I think it's partially a good idea, because what teen wants to live with their parents until their early twenties? ;)

The UK makes it too easy for young girls to see it as a way out. They have no idea what living on £100 a week implies, don't care about bills, etc. They don't realise until they have the baby what they've gotten themselves into.

Education in regards to the real world needs to improve, school is no use if it can't teach some basic skills.

Just noticed this thread. Will this apply in Northern Ireland also, where abortion is illegal?

It's a horrendous idea, another way to stigmatise and punish young women who have children. (In the case of Northern Ireland, young women without the option of a termination.)

I can't see this as "support" in any way. I would hate to have to live somewhere like that, it would be totally demeaning and for me would be totally stressful. Hardly conducive to supporting good parenting when a background of shame (and I would feel ashamed being stuck somewhere like that) is the basis for the developing mother child bond.

And by the way I'm a 36 year old, married professional, so not personally affected by this. I just know it sounds horrible, whether 16 or 36 I'd want to care for my child without that kind of aggravation.

Just another attempt to grab votes from the DM reading/too stupid/bigoted to see reality twunts who fall for the shite line that teenage/single mothers are to blame for society's ills IMO. (When actually its stupid vindictive fuckers too busy punishing the vulnerable to actually deal with society's problems.) The Tabloid press has a lot to answer for in my view.

Sorry for the (late) rant, just felt I had to post this.