HEADLINE (From Western Telegraph)

HEADLINE

MUMS in the Valleys are more likely to give birth out of wedlock, a new survey reveals.

For Blaenau Gwent is third in the league in Britain for the number of children born to single women.

And the county, which tops the list for Wales, is one of three Gwent areas where more children are born outside marriage - to single parents or unmarried couples - than within it.

According to new figures from the Office for National Statistics, in 1998 59.5 per cent of births in Blaenau Gwent were outside marriage - meaning just 40.5 per cent of children in the county were born within marriage.

Only Knowsley in Merseyside and Liverpool had more babies born outside marriage.

In Caerphilly, 53.1 per cent of children were born outside marriage in 1998, while in Torfaen the figure was 50.8 per cent.

Newport had 46.7 per cent of births occurring outside marriage, with 36 per cent in Monmouthshire.

In Blaenau Gwent, schemes have been set up to help lone parents cope with raising children alone. Ann Jones has been involved with Parents in Education since it was set up in Abertillery in 1993.

Then it was called Lone Parents' Project, aiming to help single mothers get qualifications to take them back into further education or employment.

A creche with qualified workers was available to look after children while their mothers were there.

Mrs Jones said: "They had lost out on lots of things - education, and their social education as well. They felt their self-esteem was so low, and also they felt now they were stuck in four walls and that was the end of their lives."

In the first week of opening, the project attracted 80 single mothers aged 16 to 25.

Now the project has become a multi-agency scheme which provides courses for all in the community, and has a second base in Ebbw Vale.