Assessing the socio-economic status of child mothers and their children in Entebbe Municipality

Abstract

Available literature indicates that majority of the men who father children with teenage mothers tend to be a few years older than their teenage partners, although a minority may be significantly older (Bunting and McAuley, 2004). Like teenage mothers, young fathers tend to be from low socio-economic backgrounds, with lower educational attainment and fewer employment opportunities than their childless peers. Similarly they tend to experience greater psychological and emotional difficulties. These young fathers are involved in a variety of relationships with teenage mothers, few of which result in marriage and many of which result in the breakdown of cohabitation or the termination of the relationship. The older men on the other hand find it shameful to be involved in a relationship with a child. This pattern of increasing relationship breakdown over time is related to decreasing paternal support of, and contact with children and partners (Bunting and McAuley, 2004, Hobbs and Stoops, 2002). Often, fear of imprisonment, shame, commitment elsewhere, conflictual relationships with teenage mothers and lack of financial resources are cited by fathers as barriers to their continued involvement and contact with their children and partners. However, the mothers usually cite paternal disinterest as the reason for lack of paternal involvement and there is indication that mothers and fathers have different views on the level of practical involvement expected from fathers. Resultantly, the children and their mothers suffer from a wide range of socio-economic difficulties that quite often leave them leading an inadequate standard of living, comprised of deprivation of some basic needs, with various emotional and social problems.