Helping young parents back into education and employment

Flexible solutions in school, quicker support in the event of unemployment, cooperation between authorities, and parent training tailored to the needs of younger partici-pants. These are some of the proposals made by the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs to support young parents.

The Board has been tasked with carrying out training initiatives which aim to improve our knowledge of how parents aged under 25 years can be supported in re-entering education or the labour market. The task also involved surveying existing knowledge in this area and developing working methods.

Do conditions for a young person on the labour market differ if he or she is also a parent? The answer cannot be an unequivocal yes, but against the background of a series of conferences held by the Board in which participants contributed proposals and the voices of young parents themselves were heard, it is clear that young parents as a group are living under special circumstances which affect their prospects of returning to employment and education.

The combined findings of the Board's earlier enquiries show clearly that special measures are needed to support young people who are outside the labour market. The report FOKUS 08 – The living conditions of young people in socially deprived neighbourhoods in Sweden shows moreover that one characteristic of young people in socially deprived areas is that many start a family early. The proportion of young parents is significantly higher in these areas than in the rest of the country.

The work on supporting young parents is now complete, and the Board's proposals for improvements in this area follow.

Schools must offer more flexible solutions
An upper-secondary education is a necessary condition for integration into the labour market in Sweden today. For young people to be able to complete their upper-secondary studies during a pregnancy, special measures are required. There is a need for flexible solutions, such as part-time studies, distance learning and permission for those under 20 years of age to enrol in supplementary adult education at basic and upper-secondary level. This in turn requires amendments to regulations at national level and more flexibility at municipal level. Greater understanding within schools is also important so that girls who become pregnant understand that they may remain in school and are not given the impression that they ought to leave, as has happened in some cases.

Give young people the economic resources needed to complete their studies
While young parents may receive social assistance benefits for themselves and for their children during parental leave, these benefits are liable to be stopped if a young parent under 21 years of age chooses to return to upper-secondary school. Financial responsibility is then transferred to the young person's parents, who have a duty to provide for their child as long as he or she is attending school and has not reached the age of 21.

However, the duty to provide covers children only, not grandchildren. This may result in the young person abandoning upper-secondary studies owing to a lack of means to support his or her own child. Exceptions are sometimes made, but since there is no legal support for allocating social assistance to those attending school, assessments vary depending on the municipality or administrator responsible. The legislation should be clarified to ensure fair and uniform treatment and to allow young parents under 21 years of age to complete their upper-secondary studies in a position of financial security for their child.

Provide quicker support to those who become unemployed
Unemployment calls for initiatives that are motivated not by parenthood as such but rather by young people's lack of labour market experience. There should be scope for offering early intervention and practical experience to all unemployed young people, with or without children, and at an earlier stage. At present, unemployed young people must wait 90 days before they become eligible for active support from the public employment service.

Improved cooperation
As earlier studies have also shown, cooperation is important, not only in the area of the labour market but also in guiding young people towards other authorities and training providers. Of particular importance is cooperation that spans different sectors, for example when the public employment service makes contact with young parents during parent training or at child welfare centres in order to draw their attention to the period after parental leave.

Parent training tailored to the needs of younger participants
Young parents need to be able to meet other young parents. Many stay away from parent training aimed at mixed age groups. It can be difficult to arrange training specifically for younger parents in smaller localities since the target group may be too small. It is nonetheless important that there should be an ambition at the national level to ensure that tailored training for younger parents is available at all prenatal clinics.

Open pre-school
Open pre-schools provide educational group activities for children in close cooperation with adult participants. The adults are not enrolled, but choose themselves when and how often they wish to participate.
Open pre-school is a very important forum for young parents, allowing them to meet and make contact with other parents and to build up social networks. All municipalities should ensure that young parents are offered the opportunity to take part in open pre-school activities.

Improving knowledge on the specific situation of young parents
According to young parents themselves, a frequently recurring issue is the attitude of adult society towards them. Many perceive that the adult world calls into question their decision, and takes it for granted that problems will ensue. It is therefore important that young parents and their specific situation are not forgotten during personnel training in municipalities, county councils and other authorities.