At the bus stop I was joined by someone I took to be a teenager with an unexpected day off school – dressed in jeans & trainers & enjoying trying to kick the ice to clear a space at the edge of the pavement. We fell into conversation; she gave me a real shock when she said she was lucky, she worked from home, she was a childminder. Confirmation that I really ought to add a decade on to my estimate of any young person’s age these days.
She took a call on her mobile, then said, The bus is coming. Oh yes, I said, the radio said they were running. No I mean it’s almost here, that was a call from someone who’s on it. I’m just here to pick up a client.
And so it was that when the bus stopped, she helped the young mum to manoeuvre the buggy containing one small boy off & over the ice on to the pavement: You’ve saved my life, said the mum as she handed over some money before climbing back on to the bus.
The lives of young mothers, married or not married, have I think improved immensely under the 13 years of Labour government; the availability of college courses & affordable childcare have undoubtedly contributed to this but many young mothers also work, at least part time.
Round here at any rate my impression is that it is the ability of the young father to get himself into settled employment that is the major factor determining whether they all live together as a family. If he cannot, then the whole benefits bureaucracy seems to be arranged so as to encourage the mother to live on her own with her child(ren) – not just because of the sums of money on offer, the whole relationship with the bureaucracy seems easier to negotiate, designed as if this were the norm. Few young unmarried mums seem to live at home with their parents (though it is a different matter after a split up or divorce). In many of the cases I see every day there is clearly a close & affectionate relationship between the parents, the father is closely involved in the care of the children.
But those two technological developments which proved their value on the day of the big freeze – the easy access, low floor bus & the mobile phone - have played their part in transforming the lives of these young mothers. They no longer have to live cooped up in the kind of isolation which can so easily lead to depression & neglect. Shopping, social life, as well as work or education are all that much more feasible if travel is easy, just push the buggy loaded with baby & shopping bags straight on to the bus & park it in one of the designated spaces – unless of course, as happens on some routes these days, the driver says, sorry, wait for the next bus, all our spaces are taken.
The government has played some role in bringing about this transformation – certainly in forcing local authorities to reconfigure the pavement at bus stops to facilitate access for wheelchairs. You do see the occasional wheelchair passenger, though not too many – it may be easy to get onto the bus, but how do you get to the bus stop? Instead the main beneficiaries of the access policy have been parents & anyone else who has bags to carry or finds it hard to climb up steps.
The mobile phone has contributed by making it possible to feel comfortable at home, able stay in touch with friends even though you cannot socialise as much as you used to, by making it possible to feel comfortable going out, reducing the anxiety caused if you cannot let loved ones know that you are all right, just running a bit late, stuck in traffic, as well as by making it easier to work by facilitating emergency arrangements if normal childcare breaks down.
The whole family collaborates in the care of these children – grandparents (grandpa as well as grandma) more than play their part. This too is facilitated by the low floor bus, & is another good example of how the free bus pass is contributing to family friendly policies.
And so it is that even in rural Britain, where there are few immigrants, twentysomethings are contributing to the current baby boom
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