Women waiting longer to give birth, UK
17 Dec 2004

Women in Britain are choosing to have children later than ever, according to a new report.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its Populations Trends study show that the average age of a woman giving birth is now 29.4 years old, compared to 26.2 in 1971, the year when records began.

The latest figures are the lowest since Government records began and Wales has also become the first country in the United Kingdom to have more children born outside marriage than within wedlock, with 50.3 per cent of all births there last year to unmarried women.

However, the survey also shows that the number of babies born last year in England and Wales rose 4.3 per cent to 621,469, the biggest increase in births in 25 years, with the trend led by mothers aged over 35.

The ONS figures showed that birth rates rose among all age groups apart from women under 20, with a ten per cent increase in the numbers of 40-something mothers and an eight per cent rise in 30-something mothers.

Birth patterns for 2003 indicate that the average woman now has 1.73 children, below the population replacement figure.

The data also suggests an increasing gap between classes, with wealthier women waiting until their forties to have children, while the majority of births in the youngest age groups are among poorer women.

Anne Weyman, the chief executive of the Family Planning Association, said: "Women do feel as if they can make more choices now. Among women who want children, some are having slightly larger families, of three children instead of two, because that is what feels right for them.

"I think there is a feeling that family size is more a matter of personal choice than it used to be because society is more flexible now."