Unmarried Mothers, Social Deprivation and Child Separation

The rise in the number of illegitimate births reached a peak of 69,928 in 1967 in England and Wales (6,663 in Scotland). Subsequently, numbers have steadied to between 8 and 8.5 per cent of all live births. Crellin, Pringle and West’s examination of all births during a set period suggests that about 68 per cent of illegitimate births are to unmarried mothers living alone. Using the 1971 Census, the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) estimated that 90,000 unmarried lone mothers were caring for 120,000 children under the age of 16. Given these figures it is not surprising that unmarried mothers have attracted the attention of social workers and researchers, not to mention that of the public at large. During the 1950s studies were interested in the causes of illegitimacy. The following decade witnessed the development of casework skills for unmarried mothers, particularly in regard to helping them determine the future placements of their children. Both these foci tended to draw general conclusions from clinical samples. Subsequently, research developed by studying more representative groups of unmarried mothers and by examining their social as well as psychological deprivations

Census · Marital status · Population · Sociology · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Medicine · Psychology

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