Young, Poor Parents

This chapter elaborates on the concept of social poverty, engaging with previous theory and research across the fields of sociology, psychology, and health to explain the importance of social poverty and its particular salience in the lives of young, unmarried parents with new babies and limited budgets. The concept of social poverty contrasts with much of the social capital literature’s emphasis, which often focuses on the use value of social ties rather than their inherent value to people. Social poverty is marked by the perceived absence of relationships that are of adequate quality to meet socioemotional needs. Social poverty, including feelings of loneliness or social isolation, can have consequences for psychological and physical health. Young, poor parents are making a variety of life transitions to adulthood, partnership, and parenthood, which can raise the risk of social poverty by creating instability and making it more difficult to develop trust in relationships.