ABSTRACT
The issue of lone motherhood has returned towards the top of the political and social agenda in recent years, not least because of concerted media attention. For example, in the autumn of 1996 one national newspaper published a large front-page picture of a 13-yearold mother cradling her 15-day-old baby, describing it as a ‘poignant image that sums up the moral confusion facing Britain today’ (Express, 29 October 1996). In an era in which attention is being focused on social fragmentation, rising crime rates and the growth in ‘welfare’ dependence, it is not surprising to find the spotlight falling on lone mothers. Lone motherhood is being viewed as increasingly problematic for society-on the grounds that it occurs more as a result of deliberate or inappropriate personal choice than as a result of misfortune, and that it is an economically precarious family formation and inimical to the appropriate socialisation of children. In a sense, the young single mother has become a potent symbol of what many regard as a deep-rooted malaise in British society In such a climate it is difficult to see how young single mothers will be accorded full membership of a classless society. Indeed, current policy initiatives appear to be based on the assumption that single mothers should be stigmatised and excluded, rather than integrated into society. Before examining contemporary debates about young single motherhood, it is useful to look briefly at the treatment of this group over time, in order to give some context to the theme of ‘classlessness’.
