By Average age for childbearing rises in England
A recent report has indicated that the average age for childbearing in England has risen to its highest rate since records began.
Figures reflect that half of all women aged 30 in England and Wales have not yet had children.
This is reportedly the highest average age for childbearing since records began in 1920, the Metro reported.
It means that more women than ever before are holding off on having children until they are a little older.
Statistics from the Office for National Statistics showed that 50.1 percent of women born in 1990 did not have children by the age of 30.
This is a drastic change compared to those born in 1970 as 57 percent of women had at least one child by the time they reached 30.
Going even further back, a massive 86 percent of women born in 1941 had given birth by the age of 30.
Additional figures from 2020 indicate that 18 percent of women aged 45 have never had children.
The reported claimed that the average age for childbearing for those born in 1975 was 31 years of age.
Meanwhile, the previous generation’s average age saw women typically giving birth a whole decade earlier at the age of just 22.
It also appears that women today are having less children than in the past, with the average since the late 1950s falling below 2 children per family.
However, families with two children are still the most common in the UK.
Recent figures may be the result of a lack of affordable housing as well as high living and childcare costs, the Metro added.
The Government plans to raise child benefits in April, making it easier for mothers to tackle these costs.
(Image: Jonathan Borba)
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