Encyclopedia of Motherhood

United Kingdom
Contributors: Gayle Letherby
Editors: Andrea O'Reilly
Book Title: Encyclopedia of Motherhood
Chapter Title: "United Kingdom"
Pub. Date: 2010
Access Date: October 31, 2013
Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc.
City: Thousand Oaks
Print ISBN: 9781412968461
Online ISBN: 9781412979276
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412979276.n675
Print pages: 1230-1233
This PDF has been generated from SAGE knowledge. Please note that the pagination
of the online version will vary from the pagination of the print book.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412979276.n675
A member of the European Union, the United Kingdom, in western Europe, is home
to approximately 61 million people (2009 estimate). The official name of the United
Kingdom (formed in 1801) is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, as the name refers to the union of what were once four separate nations:
England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (though most of Ireland is now independent).
People in the United Kingdom are commonly called British, although they have different
nationalities.
Fertility and Maternal Age
In 1996, the total number of families in the United Kingdom was 16.5, million but this
number rose to 17.1 million in 2006. The number of families [p. 1230

] headed by a
married couple fell by half a million in the same 10 years to just over 12 million, whereas
both lone-mother and cohabiting couple families increased to 2.3 million each. Two
children remains the most common family size, but the average number of children per
family dropped from 2 in 1971 to 1.8 in 2006. Despite this, the number of babies born
in England and Wales reached an all-time high in 2008 to more than 700,000 births. In
2006, the Office for National Statistics noted that fertility rates for 2008 gave an average
of 1.95 children for every woman (over her lifetime) in England and Wales, the highest
since 1973, when there was an average of 2 children for every woman. Migration is
key to the rising birthrate in the United Kingdom, with 24 percent of all babies born to
mothers themselves born abroad, up from 23 percent in 2007 and 14 percent in 1998.
In the United Kingdom, as in other countries, there is some medical, political, and public
concern over rising maternal ages. There were more than 26,000 women over 40 years
old giving birth in 2008, as opposed to under 13,000 in 1997. The United Kingdom's
oldest new biological mother so far is Elizabeth Adeney, who gave birth in 2009 at the
age of 66. The over-40 birthrate rose by 5 percent between 2007 and 2008, and the
chances of a woman having a baby between the ages of 35 and 40 also went up, by
almost 50 percent, over the same decade. On the other hand, birthrates among women
under 24 have fallen over the past 10 years, and those for women in their late 20s and
early 30s have climbed much more slowly.
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Later pregnancies do carry some health implications for both mother and child. After
the age of 35, the prospect of premature births or birth defects increases markedly,
along with the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes for the mother. However, some
of the concern is ethical rather than medical, although research suggests that mothers
over the age of 50 make good parents and are just as psychologically well adjusted as
those in their 30s and 40s. In addition, there is also great political and media concern
about young motherhood in the United Kingdom, as reflected in the investment in the
Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, which aims to substantially reduce teenage pregnancy in
the United Kingdom and provide support for teenage parents to reduce their and their
babies' risk of long-term social exclusion. Again, research highlights positive as well
as negative aspects of the experience of young motherhood, although the complexity
of the experience is often ignored and young mothers are stereotyped as inevitably
inadequate mothers.
Discussion over appropriate and/or ideal maternal age is just one example of the way in
which motherhood is at the center of public debate in the United Kingdom; debate that
leads to the identification of both good and bad mothers. Less attention is given to
fatherhood; for example, in 2002, one mother in the United Kingdom was sent to prison
for failing to ensure that her daughters attended school, but there was no mention of a
father in the newspaper reports of this story. In addition, for over a decade, the Celebrity
Mother of the Year award has attracted thousands of votes, although these mothers
easily fall out of favor as their maternal practices are more open to scrutiny and possible
criticism.
Divorce and Education
Divorce was a relatively rare event in the United Kingdom until the 20th century. In
1901, there were 512 divorces in England and Wales, and in 2001 there were 141,135.
In 2007, the provisional divorce rate in England and Wales fell to 11.9 per 1,000
married population, and was at its lowest level since 1981. However, the number of
marriages in 2006 was the lowest for 110 years. The chances of relationship breakdown
are even greater for cohabiting couples who have chosen not to marry, but their
separations are not a matter of public record. The Office of National Statistics predicts
that the proportion of marriages that would end in divorce increased from 34 percent
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among those who married in 1979 to 41 percent in 1993, and 45 percent in 2005.
Stepfamilies are the fastest-growing family type in the United Kingdom. Over one-third
of all individuals are part of a stepfamily.
Women outperform men in almost every single aspect of higher education, according
to research by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) published in May 2009. The
number of women attending a university began to exceed the number of men for the
first time 16 years ago, and now women outnumber them at every type of university,
[p. 1231

] including post- and pre-1992 universities. Figures cited by HEPI show 49.2
percent of women now opt for higher education, compared with only 37.2 percent of
men. Women are less likely to drop out and as a group achieve higher grades. The
report also shows that women outnumber men on most coursesincluding law and
medicine courseswhich ultimately lead to high-paid employment. Only in technology,
physical science, architecture, mathematics, computer sciences, and engineering are
women outnumbered by men. Despite this, women are still likely to earn a lower wage
than men upon graduation.
Policies for Children
Various state benefits are available for mothers (and fathers) in the United Kingdom.
Women who work outside of the home, as well as those who do not, can qualify for
financial support during the maternity/adoption period. Working men who are biological
fathers, adopters, or the mother's (or adopter's) husband, partner or civil partner may
also claim Statutory Paternity Pay. The child benefit is tax-free and payable to all
mothers for each of her children until at least age 16 (longer if the child remains in full-
time education). Various other health and employment benefits are available to those
on a low income and/or with specific health related needs. In 2003, the government
published a Green Paper, Every Child Matters. Following this, the Children Act 2004
(the legislation underpinning Every Child Matters) became law.
The aim of Every Child Matters was to give all children the support they need to
be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution, and achieve
economic well-being. The agenda has been further developed through publication
of the Children's Plan in December 2007, a 10-year strategy based upon a series of
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ambitions that covers all areas of children's lives. The Plan aims to improve educational
outcomes for children, improve children's health, reduce offending rates among young
people, and eradicate child poverty by 2020, thereby contributing to the achievement of
the five Every Child Matters outcomes. As part of this agenda, Sure Start Children's
Centres are multi-professional service hubs where children under 5 years old and
their families can receive seamless integrated services and information. Services at
Children's Centres include integrated early education and childcare; support for parents,
including advice on parenting, local childcare options, and access to specialist services
for families; child and family health services; and helping parents into work.
Birth Control, Abortion, and Religion
In the first half of the 20th century, an expansion in birth control took place in the United
Kingdom, and research suggests that family size was reduced by traditional methods,
such as withdrawal, abstinence, and abortion rather than more modern appliances,
such as condoms and caps. The second half of the 20th century saw better access to
contraception and legal abortion in the United Kingdom, which has affected women's
lives both within and outside the context of the family.
Today in the United Kingdom, family planning clinics are open to women, men, and
young people, including those under age 16. Family planning clinics provide a range
of services, including confidential advice about contraception; limited supplies of free
condoms; free emergency contraception; confidential advice about sexually transmitted
infections (STIs); cervical screening; unplanned pregnancy advice; free pregnancy
tests; pre-conception advice and fertility awareness information; and fitting and checking
of caps, diaphragms, and coils. Some family planning clinics may also offer specialist
services, including incest, rape, and sexual abuse counseling and referral, vasectomy
counseling and procedures, and pre-abortion and postabortion counseling and referral.
In 2009, the United Kingdom government announced plans to make sex education
compulsory for pupils aged 5 to 11. In addition, all secondary schools in England will for
the first time be mandated to teach a core curriculum about sex and contraception in the
context of teenagers' relationships.
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The religious makeup of the United Kingdom is diverse and reflects over 170 distinct
religions, as counted in the 2001 Census. Religion in the United Kingdom has suffered
an immense decline since the 1950s, and all indicators show a continued secularization,
in line with other European countries. Just over 6 percent of the population go to church
on a Sunday, although attendance is likely to be higher at Christmas, Easter, and on
Mothering Sunday, also [p. 1232

] known as Mother's Day. In the United Kingdom,

Mother's Day falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent, exactly three weeks before Easter
Sunday.
Famous Mothers
One of the most famous women of the late 20th centuryPrincess Dianawas
celebrated for being a devoted mother. Indeed, she was more involved in her two
sons' upbringing than many previous British royal mothers. She chose their schools
and clothes, and planned their outings, and negotiated her public duties around
their timetables. To many, the Princess of Wales was a role model, admired for
her beauty and her high-profile charity work, not least her involvement in acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) issues and the international campaign against
landmines. However, her mothering legacy that was perhaps most admired, and she
has been described as a mother before all else.
The singer Madonna, who now lives in the United Kingdom, has received more diverse
publicity. Having just secured the adoption of a second baby born in Malawi, she is
both applauded for her maternal feelings and generous financial support to children's
services in Malawi and criticized for removing children from their homelands and striving
for motherhood when she should be contemplating grandmotherhood.
As elsewhere, mothers in the United Kingdom are encouraged to listen to their
instincts and simultaneously listen to the experts when bringing up their children.
Yet despite a plethora of external advice and expectation, research demonstrates that
mothers are not passive, and support each other (in person and through actual and
virtual support networks) and look to family and friends, as well as professionals, for
support.
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Gayle Letherby University of Plymouth, United Kingdom
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412979276.n675
See Also:
Bibliography
Department for Children, Schools and Families . http://www.dcsf.gov.uk (accessed June
2009).
Fisher, Kate. Birth Control, Sex and Marriage in Britain 19181960 . Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press, 2006.
Higher Education Policy Institute . http://www.hepi.ac.uk (accessed June 2009).
National Health Service . Family Planning Clinics. http://www.nhs.uk (accessed June
2009).
Office for National Statistics . Focus on Families. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/focuson/
families (accessed June 2009).
Project http://Britain.com . British Life and Culture. http://www.woodlands-
junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions (accessed October 2009).
Woodard, Kath. Representations of Motherhood. In Gender, Identity and
Reproduction: Social Perspectives , S. Earle, ed. , and G. Letherby, eds. New York:
Palgrave, 2003.