Lived Experiences of Young Mothers Parenting in Urban Slums: Evidence from Ghana

Abstract

Abstract Parenting in urban informal settlements is shaped by intersecting economic, environmental, and institutional constraints. However, less is known about how young mothers experience and make sense of everyday caregiving under these conditions. This study explored the lived experiences of 20 young mothers aged 18–35 years raising children in Old Fadama and African Eleven, two informal settlements in Accra, Ghana. Guided by Jack’s framework of ecological influences on parenting and using an interpretative phenomenological analysis, the study examined experiences of child health care, housing, and education. Participants described recurrent childhood illness, limited access to formal health services, overcrowded and flood-prone living environments, and financial barriers to children’s schooling. Their accounts suggested that caregiving decisions were shaped by restricted material and institutional options, while mothers continued to negotiate available resources and sustain educational aspirations for their children. Although the two settlements differed as a “slum of hope” and a “slum of despair,” settlement type shaped the intensity of these hardships more than their fundamental characteristics. The study contributes an experience-centered account of parenting under structural constraint and highlights the importance of integrated, context-responsive interventions addressing health care, housing, education and the socioeconomic conditions of young mothers and improve child well-being in marginalized communities.