What Is the Average Age of a First Time Mother in the US?

The average age of first time mothers in the US is 25.4, research shows. Over time, women in the US have been waiting longer to become mothers; the average age of first time mothers in the US was 22.7 in 1980. It is thought that women in the US are choosing to wait longer to have kids because of additional time spent pursuing higher education, because about two-thirds of all new mothers in the US have at least some college education.

More about motherhood trends in the US:

  • In the US, one out of every five mothers has her first child after the age of 35.

  • Utah is the state with the highest birth rate, at about 88 births for every 1,000 women age 15 to 44, and Vermont has the lowest birth rate, at about 51 births per 1,000 women.

  • The number of single mothers in the US increased from 3.4 million in 1970 to 9.9 million in 2010.

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Post 3

@Euroxati - You make some very good points. Between the ages of fifteen and twenty is when you're still growing up, and you have the rest of your life ahead of you. On top of that, a lot of people in that age range don't have jobs, and aren't quite financially stable, which would be a huge problem when the baby arrives.

Post 2

@Chmander - If you reread the top paragraph again, it said the reason for this is because a lot of women want to pursue a higher education, which in my opinion, makes a lot of sense. It's a good choice, as it's not always wise to have children at such a young age. Also, when I say young, I mean between the ages of fifteen and twenty.

Post 1

Not that it bothers me, but why do some women in the U.S. wait so long to become mothers? Is it because they feel like they're not ready yet?

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