Why are people waiting longer to start a family? Exploring the trends, challenges, and choices behind delayed parenthood

In Austria, the average age at which a woman has her first child is now over 30 – some six years later than in the mid-1980s. This trend illustrates a long-term shift towards later reproduction that can be observed in all high-income countries. In several countries, including Italy, Spain, and South Korea, women are now starting families at around 32 on average.

What is driving this trend?

People are waiting longer to have children because they study longer, experience more job instability early in their careers, and also because they have other priorities in their young adult years. They form committed partnerships later in life and experience fewer unplanned pregnancies. Many young adults struggle to find affordable housing. They also feel a greater responsibility to support future children, both financially and emotionally. Some fear that they will not be ‘good parents’ if they have children too soon. More couples are also separating and repartnering, which can lead to delayed parenthood. Finally, people are living longer, and widespread access to assisted reproduction may make them feel that they can have children later in life.

In short, the expansion of education, economic insecurity, changes in the formation of partnerships, as well as societal and ideational changes and expectations are all pointing in the same direction – towards later parenthood.

Some specific examples

In Austria, 5% of women give birth at the age of 40 or over, while in Spain the proportion of mothers in advanced reproductive age has reached 8%. A quarter of Austrian women and one in three Spanish women give birth at the age of 35 or older. The trend towards later childbearing is particularly marked among first-time mothers.

Surveys show that more people are planning to have children in their late 30s or early 40s, at a time when their biological fertility is already declining. In Austria, for example, the number of childless women aged 38-41 who wanted to have a child rose from less than 5% in 1986 to 30% in 2016. However, only 24% of women who wanted to have a child followed through with their plans - some of them never tried, while others had reached their reproductive limits and remained 'involuntarily' childless.

Impacts, challenges, and the way forward

As people are having children later in life, more of them are struggling with infertility. In Austria, 4.5% of women at the end of their reproductive life haven’t had a child despite trying for at least a year, while in Spain 8% of women – about one in twelve – remained permanently childless despite trying to get pregnant. Some of them have used assisted reproduction without success, as success rates decline rapidly among women in their late 30s or older. In summary, in societies where people have children later in life, waiting longer reduces fertility rates and increases the number of people who have problems conceiving or carrying a pregnancy to term. Delayed parenthood also increases the reliance on assisted reproduction, which unfortunately often fails to result in pregnancy and birth even after multiple attempts.

Well-designed policies aimed at supporting families can help people have children earlier in life, before their reproductive capacity begins to decline. As discussed above, people often have children later because they face pressures and obstacles that can be partly addressed by making our societies more child- and family-friendly. Women and men who want to have children should be given the best and most flexible options for their family-building choices. These policies should not only provide wide access to assisted reproduction, but also make it easier for people to have children when they want to. This includes wide access to affordable early childcare and flexible paid parental leave options.

The 2024 Wittgenstein Center Conference set to take place from 21-22 November will explore the complexities of delayed reproduction, and the challenges and prospects it presents, offering a comprehensive overview from leading experts in demography, sociology, and medicine to better understand this growing trend. From shifting norms to changing expectations, the conference will explore the changes in reproductive trajectories and social inequalities, including biological factors, social pressures and the development of medically assisted reproduction. It will also consider the role of education and other socioeconomic factors in affecting fertility timing and childbearing decisions.

The event is co-financed by the BIC.LATE project, which receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant Agreement No 101001410).

Visit the Conference website for more information on this interesting topic and to register to attend.

Note: This article gives the view of the authors, and not the position of the Nexus blog, nor of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.