Housing trajectories of teen mothers and their families over 28 years.

Abstract

Housing has received little attention in the research on teen mothers. A qualitative longitudinal study presented a unique opportunity to examine how teen mothers house their families over time. The study began in 1988 and has followed teen mothers and family members for 7 waves over 28 years. The 7th wave began in 2016. The specific aims of this substudy were to describe the housing trajectories of teen mothers over 28 years and to explore how their housing trajectories were shaped by family resources, housing programs, and discrimination. Data from 9 families were analyzed using interpretive phenomenology. Housing instability was pervasive for Black mothers who were disadvantaged as children. Their stories included many moves, doubling up, sending children to live with others, depression, unreliable partners, and racism. Housing instability was a source of toxic stress, interrupted personal and family goals, undermined family routines, and reflected a legacy of discriminatory housing policies. In contrast, White advantaged mothers were stably housed as children and adults, which reflected longstanding family resources, stable marriages, husbands' steady employment, and tax deductions for homeownership. These stark differences in housing trajectories reflect and reproduce multigenerational social and health inequities. (PsycINFO Database Record

An Umbrella Review of Qualitative Research on Teen Mothering

“…Longitudinal studies further suggested that teens capitalized on maternal identity to improve their lives over time with mixed results (Ellis-Sloan, 2019). As researchers have documented, teen mothers’ attempts to breastfeed, continue schooling, or to leave risky situations were often thwarted by limited resources in housing, education, childcare, and gainful employment (Bekaert & SmithBattle, 2016; SmithBattle, 2019; SmithBattle et al, 2020).…”

“…Teen mothering contrasts sharply with the trajectory that middle class youth secure through lengthy postsecondary education, followed by employment, adult independence, marriage, and parenthood, typically in that order (Anastas, 2017; McDermott & Graham, 2005). In contrast, for teens who grow up in disadvantaged families and segregated, low-income neighborhoods, unequal life chances begin in childhood (Mollborn & Jacobs, 2012; SmithBattle, 2018a, 2019) and contribute to growing up faster, feeling older, and assuming adult roles and responsibilities earlier than middle class youth whose risk-taking is mitigated by family and community resources (Adhia et al, 2019; Johnson & Mollborn, 2009). Because impoverished youth are attuned to their limited prospects for the future, they are more likely than their middle class peers to find identity in family roles than in the job market where low-income work provides little security, benefits, or flexibility (Furstenberg, 2015; McDermott & Graham, 2005; Peterson & Bonell, 2018).…”

Analysis methods in hermeneutic phenomenological research: interpretive profiles

“…An interpretive profile is a summary of all the data a researcher collects over the course of a study for each case. 5…”

“…2020;4:293-298. phenomenology to study parenting practices of teenage mothers. 5 Pohlman used hermeneutic phenomenology to increase the understanding of fathers of preterm infants. 6 She analyzed the influence of their work on their early transition to fatherhood and explored their meanings of work.…”

Risky Assumptions and the Science of Teen Mothering

“…These norms were far removed from the social realities of growing up in less educated families, living in disadvantaged neighborhoods, and attending under-performing schools. Such circumstances endanger child development, and restrict expectations and pathways into adulthood, with children of color facing additional restrictions stemming from systemic racism (SmithBattle, 2018(SmithBattle, , 2019SmithBattle et al, 2020).…”