Research project Teenage pregnancy and teenage parenthood is often framed as detrimental for future live chances of both parents and children, pointing at welfare dependency, lowered educational attainment and low life income.
The overall aim of this project is to study the pathways and consequences of early parenthood in Sweden, with attention to heterogeneous effects in different parts of the population. This, to be able to better identify when, for whom and for what outcomes teenage parenthood is an issue.
Teenage pregnancy and teenage parenthood is often framed as detrimental for future live chances of both parents and children, pointing at welfare dependency, lowered educational attainment and low life income. However, little evidence exists on how these effects vary between different groups of teenage parents, depending on background characteristics and lifecourse trajectories. In addition, previous studies examined these outcomes in isolation from each other instead of providing a holistic perspective of how life courses of teenage parents develop.
In light of this, the overall aim of this project is to study the pathways and consequences of early parenthood in Sweden, with attention to heterogeneous effects in different parts of the population. This, to be able to better identify when, for whom and for what outcomes teenage parenthood is an issue. The project will utilize Swedish register data and focus on educational, employment and welfare dependency outcomes across the life course.
We argue that in order to further the understanding on the consequences of teenage parenthood, two core aspects of our aim need to be further understood; heterogeneity in effects where substantial negative consequences of teenage parenthood might emerge in certain subpopulations but not in others; and wider life course trajectories of family, education and income rather singular isolated events such as becoming a teenage parent. In order to combine these two key aspects of the consequences of teenage parenthood, the project will be set within a life course framework. The project will contribute to previous literature by studying both teenage mothers and fathers, focusing on heterogeneity in effects and investigating trajectories of educational and employment careers.
