Young mums ‘held back’ from work by childcare costs and inflexible jobs, study finds

Young mums are being held back from paid work and better futures by unfair systems, new research has found.

A new study by Close the Gap and Save the Children reveals that mums aged 16 to 25 face severe barriers to work, such as poverty, childcare, occupational segregation and inflexible hours.

While young mothers see work and learning as routes to higher incomes, independence, and better futures for their children, experts warn that existing systems can restrict those ambitions, leaving them trapped in low-wage roles or locked out of the workforce.

Mums who took part in the study say it can feel like an impossible choice between working and caring for young children.

‘It’s a struggle to balance it all’

At 23, Natalie was pregnant with her daughter, homeless and sleeping in her car. Even after moving into temporary accommodation, she struggled to make ends meet.

She now has a permanent home and works part-time, though she said she initially ended up in debt trying to afford household bills.

“With the house, you’ve got all the bills that come with it. If you’re not working or you work part-time due to childcare, it really is a struggle to balance it all.

“I did get a food bank when my daughter was first born, but I don’t receive that anymore because I’m working.

“It’s been a tough time.”

Natalie says one of the biggest barriers mums face is getting time off when their children are unwell and don’t have anyone to care for them.

“That’s a big problem for people I know. You face getting disciplined at work or losing your job. There are still issues like that in the workplace.

“Single mums don’t need to be facing when you’re trying to survive.”

Children in households where the mother is under 25 experience the highest poverty rate of all Scottish Government priority family groups, at 55%.

Around 42% of young mothers experience in-work poverty.

Natalie says taking part in the JustRight study has helped her meet other mums facing similar experiences.

“It’s been eye-opening to see situations that people can be in and how to come out of them, all the struggles people have with work and childcare. I realised I wasn’t alone.”

Experts warn that simply being in paid work is not enough to lift families out of poverty. Work needs to be secure, adequately paid and flexible enough to fit around caring responsibilities.

Young mums taking part in the research described navigating trade-offs involving childcare costs, eating into wages, having to prioritise immediate income over further study, lack of workplace flexibility, reducing opportunities for progression, and higher income from additional working hours, potentially reducing financial support available to them.

These barriers can combine to leave young mothers with limited choices about the work and learning opportunities available to them.

Many young mothers experience heightened barriers to care and support. These challenges are often magnified for lone mothers, disabled people, care-experienced youths, survivors of domestic abuse, and racially-minoritised or migrant mothers.

Similarly, mothers of children with disabilities or additional support needs face significantly greater hurdles.

‘I feel like I can’t be a proper mum to my kids’

Mum-of-four Anna, 26, says full-time work is preventing her from seeing her children.

After the birth of her third child, Anna returned to work within months while still breastfeeding because her family could not afford to live on one income.

“Especially on the weekend, I am doing a 12-10pm shift. I don’t see them in the morning or the night.

“The next day, I’m so tired that I’m not really around them as much, which isn’t pleasant. I feel like I’m not being a proper mum.

“Why do I have to pick between being a good mum or not being a good mum and going to work, and doing what’s right for my kids?”

She said many of the jobs she is looking at have an 8am start time and a 6pm finish, which would interfere with school and nursery drop-off and pick-up times.

She said she would be unable to afford both breakfast clubs and after-school care.

“It’s like things are being put in place to block mums from working.

“We do want to work, but in order for us to work, there has to be a system in place that lets us.”

The organisations are calling on policymakers, employers and trade unions to recognise young mothers as a group with significant potential and ensure that the systems around work, childcare, education and social security support rather than restrict their choices.

Anna Ritchie Allan, executive director from Lead Partner, Close the Gap, said: “This research shows that Scotland’s labour market is systematically failing young mothers, who are pushed into insecure, low-paid work, denied the flexibility they need, and often judged rather than supported.

“Having a job is not the same as being able to build a secure future. Low pay, inadequate childcare support, and inflexible working are locking young mothers into poverty, even when they’re working.

“None of this is inevitable – it’s the result of policymaking and workplace practice that don’t reflect young mothers’ lives, and hit hardest those who are single parents, disabled, affected by domestic abuse, and racially minoritised. Young mothers need secure hours, decent pay and childcare they can rely on, not jobs that ask them to choose between earning and caring.”

Claire Telfer, head of Scotland at Save the Children Scotland, said: “Young mothers are ambitious, capable and determined to build a better future for themselves and their children. But too often, the systems around them are making that harder than it needs to be.

“Too often, being in work does not prevent young mothers and their children from poverty. If Scotland is determined to tackle child poverty, we must remove the barriers young mums face to fair work – from insecure jobs and inflexible hours to unaffordable childcare and support that does not fit the realities of family life.

“Young mothers have told us what needs to change. Now, Government, policymakers, employers, trade unions and charities need to listen and must act together, with young mothers, to turn these recommendations into reality, so that becoming a young mum never means having to put your ambitions on hold.”