Sir, - As a reader of your newspaper, I have come across many letters of complaint about young single mothers.
I am 16 and a single mother with a 15-month-old son. Due to my circumstances, my education had to be put on hold. I wish to further my education so that I will be in a better position to support my son and myself in the future. I have enrolled on a Leaving Certificate course, but I have had great difficulty in finding affordable creche facilities for my son. I have tried to find a local creche which is subsidised by the Eastern Health Board. This has proved impossible in my area at the moment. I believe that one is due to open in January.
I think this is a very important issue and that something should be done, as I am sure that there are plenty of other teenage mothers who would like to further their education.There is a lot of criticism of teenage mothers who have to claim benefits in order to support their child as they are unable to work. This is usually through lack of education.Many people would say that we are not prepared to work and are happy to sit at home and have money handed to us from the Government. This is not the case. Like many other teenage mothers, I would prefer to support my child without help from the Government. In order to do so, I feel that further education is essential but, without the necessary back-up, this is impossible. - Yours, etc.,
Rebecca Neillwatson,
Oliver Plunkett Road,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.