Young people's aspirations project

Role: lead

Funder: NHS Coventry

Dates: 2010 - 2011

Background

At the time this research was commissioned, youth unemployment was at a record high, and educational opportunities were being negatively affected by deep funding cuts introduced by the coalition government. Coventry had a high rate of teenage conceptions (59.7 conceptions per 1000 under 18 young women compared to the England average of 38.2 per 1000), including hotspot wards where rates were persistently high. These hotspot areas were characterised by high levels of deprivation, absenteeism and worklessness, and low levels of educational attainment. Amongst other cultural and structural factors, low educational and career aspirations was considered to be a contributory factor to teenage pregnancy. In 2011, NHS Coventry commissioned a study to explore the relationship between young people's aspirations and teenage pregnancy, focussing in particular on young people living in these hotpot areas.

What did we do?

This was a qualitative study. Seventeen young people (10 female, 7 male) aged 16 to 21, living in a hotspot area of Coventry, and known to or engaged with youth services, were interviewed. To be eligible to participate, all young people had to have a minimum of five risk factors for teenage pregnancy (identified by partner in youth service using a bespoke tool) and to either be a teenage parent or parent-to-be (parenting group) or engaged in education, employment or training (engaged group). Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis by two experienced qualitative researchers with academic backgrounds in psychology and sociology. The aspirations of two groups were explored and compared.

What did we find?

There was no difference between the groups in the mean number of risk factors young people experienced, as identified by the selection tool (parenting group: mean = 10.33; engaged group: mean = 9.22). The number of protective factors was however higher for those in the engaged group (parenting group: mean = 3.89; engaged group: mean = 6.11).

Almost all young people in the sample gave examples of career and/or vocational courses that they wished or had wished to pursue. Some, although not all of those in the engaged group, had high levels of commitment to their educational/career goals. Those in the parenting group, and the remainder of the engaged group demonstrated lower resolve to pursue educational/career goals. This difference, combined with those in the engaged group being more likely to use contraception for the purpose of preserving these goals, suggested that having a strong commitment to an educational/career goal may be an important protective factor against teenage pregnancy. All young people across the groups viewed educational and employment pathways as restricted and felt they had limited options to choose from. Those in the engaged group were also more likely to able to see the value in sticking with opportunities for long-term gain than those in the parenting group, who were more motivated by short-term factors e.g. giving up on lessons/courses that they didn't enjoy or found boring.

Impact

Following data analysis, an expert opinion workshop (EOW) was convened to discuss the findings and generate draft recommendations for policy and practice. These were discussed with the then teenage pregnancy lead within the Department for Education, and subsequently presented to Coventry's Sexual Health Board, with revisions made accordingly. A full report on the study was delivered to NHS Coventry which set out the study findings and the finalised recommendations.