Time moms in CT are getting older

OR and Washington showed the largest increases in older “first-time” moms.

The average age of first-time mothers in the U.S. has surpassed 26 years old in the past decade, reaching an all-time high, according to new statistics.

The average age for all births-first child, second, third, and so on-remained stable for the most part in the early 2000s before dropping around 2005.

Overall, the average age at which women had their first child increased to 26.3 years in 2014 from 24.9 years in 2000. This means that women are having children later in general, not just waiting until they’re out of their teens, which could do as much for women’s wages and education as it does for their children’s wellbeing.

“From 2000 to 2014, the proportion of first births to women aged 30-34 rose 28 percent (from 16.5 percent to 21.1 percent)”, said the report.

While teenagers had fewer kids, the proportion of all first births happening in older age brackets increased. The number of women under 20 having their first child dropped 42 percent from 2000 to 2014.

The mean age of first-time motherhood has been steadily climbing since 1970, when the government firsts began tracking the ages of new moms.

Women’s ages at childbirth are also “associated with a range of birth outcomes, such as multiple births and birth defects”, it said.

“Women are staying in school longer, they’re going into the workforce, they’re waiting to get married, and they’re waiting to have kids”, said John Santelli, a Columbia University professor of population and family health.

More women in the United States are putting off becoming mothers until later in life, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The largest shift was seen from 2009, when the average age was 25.2.

Since 2000, the most dramatic increases were for black mothers and for moms living along the West Coast.

The U.S.is far from the top when it comes to pushing the age-at-first-birth limit. Experts said that factors like improvements in birth control and greater opportunities for women also fueled the rise.

In contrast, American Indian and Alaska Natives were the youngest on average – close to 23 years.