London - Women aged over 40 are more likely to become mothers than teenage girls for the first time since the Second World War, official figures reveal.
The rise of the middle-aged mother and the decline of teenage pregnancy – confirmed in the national count of children born in 2015 – is the culmination of 30 years over which women have been delaying having families for longer and longer.
The landmark change came last year as the number of girls aged under 20 who have children dropped sharply. The historic fall is thought to be a result of growing aspiration among young women, widespread use of effective long-term contraceptive methods, and the changing habits of the ‘Facebook generation’.
Older mothers were far less common than teen mothers even just a decade ago.
In 1991 a teenager was six times more likely to have a child than a woman in her 40s; in 1996 four times more likely than an older woman; and even in 2006 teen births were two and a half times more common than births to over-40s.
Education, careers, and the increasing instability of partnerships with potential fathers have meant women are increasingly likely to delay giving birth.
Over the last 40 years, the percentage of births to women aged 35 and over has increased considerably. Women aged 40 and over now have a higher fertility rate than women aged under 20. This was last recorded in the 1940s.
Births were higher among older women during the 1930s, when the economic slump prevented young people from starting families, and through the turmoil of the war years until 1947. The baby boom of the 1950s and 60s produced many younger mothers, and a dramatic rise in teenage pregnancies followed in the 1970s and 80s.
This trend has reversed to hit a 40-year low as state benefits have become less generous. A generation devoted to using social media in their bedrooms has also seen fast-falling rates of smoking, drinking and drug abuse.
Fewer than half of adults are now married.
Married couples now make up less than half the adult population – the lowest recorded level.
In a turning point in the fall of the traditional family, it revealed that only 48.1 per cent of people aged over 16 were married and living as a couple last year.
Young people of 16 to 18 need their parents’ consent to marry.
Marriage advocate Patricia Morgan, who coined the term ‘marriage lite’ for cohabitation, said: ‘It is a wonder so many people remain married. Marriage has been denigrated for years by academics, politicians and officials. There is deep insecurity and worry about getting married, and people are scared about it.’
Daily Mail