I'm finally in vogue! More women in the United States are waiting longer now to have children than ever before, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.
I had my child when I was 41, a full six years later than Pew's definition of an "older mother" as 35 or above. The survey, based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Census Bureau, found that for the first time, more women over 35 (14 percent) had babies in 2008 than teenagers (10 percent). That was true across all ethnicities.
It was a flip-flop from 1990, when just nine percent of women over 35 had babies and 13 percent of teens gave birth.
I didn't consciously wait to have a child; I was just busy building my career as a journalist through my twenties and thirties, living overseas, travelling a lot. Basically, time got away from me and one day I realized, "Wo, I'm almost 40; better get a move on with this baby thing."
The older women in the study may have found themselves in similar situations, since 71 percent of them had at least some college education.
From the study:
This delay in age of motherhood is associated with delay in age of marriage and with growing educational attainment. The more education a woman has, the later she tends to marry and have children. Birth rates also have risen for the most educated women, those with at least some college education, while being relatively stable for women with less education. These dual factors have worked together to increase the education levels of mothers of newborns.
A few interesting factoids that jumped out at me were that birth rates have risen for all women over 30 since 1990. But for women in my age group, the rate of increase was really high: 80 percent. It was 47 percent for women 35-39.
Here are a few more interesting findings:
- 41 percent (a record) of births in the United States were to unmarried women, up from 28 percent in 1990.
- The share of births outside of marriage was biggest for African-American women (72 percent). But the largest increase over the past 20 years has been for white women (69 percent).
- Most Americans say the ideal number of children is two.
The Pew study also took a look at society's attitudes toward older mothers and found them "neutral or approving" of the trend for women 40 and over to have babies.
I can't say I've noticed anyone regarding me any differently because I'm an older mother. It must be my youthful looks...
This study makes fascinating reading; take 15 this Sunday to check it out. And Happy Mothers Day to moms of all ages!
Thanks to the Washington Post for the heads up on this study.
Image Credit: Lori Cuthbert
comments ( )