Few solo mothers in teens

Press, 7 September 1989, Page 5

Few solo mothers in teens

PA Wellington Relatively few solo mothers are teenagers, contrary to popular belief, according to a Statistics Department survey. Based on the last census, it says there were 2718 teenage solo mothers or 2.7 per cent of all solo mothers. However, most — nine out of 10 — solo mothers had never been married.

A high proportion of solo mothers in their early 20s are also single — seven out of 10, 20 to 24-year-olds. Over the age of 24, the proportion of single women heading families declines rapidly, indicating that single-parenting is a relatively recent trend. Fewer than two in 10 solo mothers aged 25 to 44 years, and well below one in 10 of those 45 or older, have never married.

Nearly 51 per cent of teenage mothers in 1986 had never married. Meanwhile the one-child family has almost overtaken the traditional two-child family in popularity. At the last census, 37 per cent of all families with children had two children, while 35 per cent had one child.

Three-child families made up most of the remainder — 19 per cent of all families.