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 First births to mothers under age 20 dropped 42 percent from 2000 to
2014, from 1 in 4 births to 1 in 7, according to the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention study.
Overall, the average age at which women had their first child
increased to 26.3 years in 2014 from 24.9 years in 2000.
Teens' increased awareness of the realities of pregnancy, and
greater job and education opportunities for women, are among factors
behind the change, said CDC demographer T.J. Mathews, adding that
the United States still has a younger average childbearing age than
countries in Europe and Asia.
The U.S. trend accelerated between 2009 and 2014, the most recent
years studied, according to researchers, although the report did not
break out statistics for that time frame.
"We've seen these trends for decades, but the uptick in the last
five years of the data was surprising,” said Mathews, one of the
authors of the study.
Women are delaying parenthood across race and ethnic groups and
geographically, the study found. The District of Columbia and Oregon
had the largest age spikes, according to the study, which did not
provide an explanation.
Increases ranged from 0.7 years in New Hampshire to more than three
years in the District of Columbia. States with larger increases
tended to be in the western United States.
Increased understanding of the difficulties of having a baby as
depicted in reality television shoes may have contributed to the
decline in younger mothers, Mathews said.
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“Maybe we’re getting smarter about these things,” he said, noting
that the U.S. teen birth rate remains higher than in other developed
countries.
At the same time, older women continue to wait to begin having
children, Mathews said, also citing more contraception choices as a
factor.
The childbearing age may continue to rise, he added.
“We are up to 26.3 in the United States, but there are countries in
Europe and parts of Asia that are over are 30,” he said, noting that
some U.S. populations already see that shift.
“We see groups in the United States, particularly Asian and Pacific
Islanders that are edging toward 30,” he said.
(Editing by Letitia Stein and Andrew Hay)
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