Is it correct to assume that all young mothers are doing a bad job?
Throughout Australia young mothers are presented as a type: low social economic backgrounds, poorly educated, lazy and without ambition.
Even though Australia’s fertility rate among teenagers is low (17 births per 1000 women) in comparison to the USA (51 per 1000 women), and Britain (27 per 1000 women) (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2010), the rate of teenage pregnancy in rural or disadvantage areas is up to 50 per cent higher than it is in Australian cities (ABC, 2006). Furthermore the fertility rate for Indigenous teenagers in Australia is over four times the rate of all Australian teenage women, with 78 births per 1,000 women (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009).
With teenage pregnancy normal in my hometown, each story is close or personal to me in some way. ‘We met a little early, but I get to love you longer’ is a collaboration with young mothers from Indigenous and/or disadvantaged backgrounds from my neighbourhood or local area. By investigating and individualising the complex range of issues that lead teen girls to early pregnancy and the challenges they face, the collaborations seek to show that each mother is different, and there is no ‘uniform’ type. By listening and telling the stories of others, we come to understand that there are no stereotypes and we stand as individuals.
