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UK Wedding News

16/10/2014

Average Age Of Mothers Increases

More than half of babies born in the UK are born to women over the age of 30, new official figures have revealed.

One in five babies are born to women aged 35 or more.

In fact, the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that there were almost as many births to those over the age of 35, as there were to women under the age of 25.

In the last 40 years, the average age of mothers is said to have increased sharply, with women said to be delaying starting a family in order to focus on their career.

In England and Wales 2013, 51% of all births were to mothers aged 30 and over, while the average age of women becoming a mother for the first time has also increased. In the 1960s, the average age was said to be around 23 years, but now it is 28.3.

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Last year, 59% of mothers were in the 25 to 34 age bracket, while the number of babies born to women under the age of 25 has fallen drastically. A total of 148,855 babies were born to females in this group – less than half the number in the 60s and 70s when more than 40% of mothers were in their teens or early 20s.

Elsewhere, the ONS said in 2013, 21% of babies had mothers aged under 25, with 20% having a mother aged 35 or over at the time of birth.

In its report, the ONS said: "Since 1973 the average age of mother has generally increased. The overall rise since 1973 reflects the increasing numbers of women who have been delaying childbearing to later ages.

"Possible influences include; increased participation in higher education, increased female participation in the labour force, the increasing importance of a career, the rising opportunity costs of childbearing, labour market uncertainty, housing factors and instability of partnerships."

(JP/IT)

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"More than half of babies born in the UK are born to women over the age of 30, new official figures have revealed."