We keep hearing more and more about how millennials are delaying marriage and motherhood, and now a new study supports these anecdotes. It seems that women in their 40s are having more babies than women in their 20s. The study came out of England and Wales, so the exact stats may not stack up 100 percent in the U.S., but it definitely reflects a growing trend that is seen worldwide.
The study from the Office for National Statistics found that for every 1,000 women in their 40s, there were on average 15.2 births, but for every 1,000 women in their 20s, there were only 14.5 births. This is the first time since 1947 that the birthrate for this demographic beat out the younger generation.
Women have different reasons for waiting, but researchers suspect women are putting off having babies due to higher education, and better access to birth control and sex education. The average age that a woman in England/Wales first becomes a mother is 30.3, according to 2015 statistics.
This is older than the age of first-time motherhood in the U.S., which according to 2014 statistics, is 26.3 years old—up from 24.9 at the start of the century.
