After three months of compiling research, Leslie Reynolds, research support specialist at Cornell’s Program in Applied Demographics, said there are changes to fertility rates among mothers in New York state.
One finding is that the average age of women giving birth to their first child is now older.
“Women of the age 30 and below, the fertility rates for those age groups decreased in the past two decades, and people over 30 have increased their fertility," Reynolds said.
What You Need To Know
- According to researchers, the average age of a first birth in New York women was 28.9 in 2021
- The average age was 27.2 in 2011
- That means in a decade, the average age of a mother experiencing her first birth went up by more than a year
- Researchers say the fertility rate has gone up significantly for women ages 35-44, but it’s not enough to offset the decline in childbirths by younger women
Researchers said the average age of a first birth in New York women was 28.9 in 2021. That’s more than a year older than the average age in 2011, which was 27.2.
While it may be hard to pinpoint an exact, encompassing reason for this change, Reynolds said financial reasons play a role.
“The shift of women into the labor force and the pressure to have two people working or two incomes, it forces you to consider what is available in terms of child care and balancing work and life, and also with your partner being able to split the responsibilities," Reynolds said.
The data can be helpful in considering what this means for the future. If more women are having a baby at a later age, it could mean future societal changes. Reynolds points out an older parent may need caregiving sooner, which could involve their then-adult child.
“If you had a baby at 40, for example, and then they've aged out when you're about 65. Then they'll go right into caring for you when they're about at baby-raising age, so, in their 30s. So that will be kind of a sandwich-caregiving situation," said Reynolds.
Researchers said the fertility rate went up significantly for women ages 35-44, but it was not enough to offset the drop in childbirths by younger women.
Although the state’s population is dropping, Reynolds said that based on their studies, there is a pattern of decline in the state’s fertility rate.
Some other findings of the study were the total fertility rate is highest for women who live in Rockland, Jefferson and Orange counties. The lowest rates, Cornell researchers said, are in Otsego and Tompkins counties, and New York City.
