Average age 1st time mums

[moonsovermiami]

What's the average age of a first time mum in your area?

Definitely early 20s.

i agree, I certainly feel a bit judged! I was 24 when had my first. Judging on my experience of friends/baby groups/school this was about average. According to this thread I must be benefit claiming, uneducated and living in a deprived area! It was 20 years ago now so maybe things have changed.

I live in a London suburb with a very mixed demographic. Among my friends (mostly university educated professionals) we were almost all 28-35.

But there's a massive range in the area. I'm standing in the y5 pick up queue with women from late-20's to mid-50's.

I’m way past all that, but DS’s friends all have at least 1 and half have a second on the way. He’s 31 going on 32. His wife however is having their second and is 27. I had mine three decades ago at 28 and 31 so not a huge amount of difference.

Good but not posh area, mixture of jobs from skilled tradies to HCP and lower managers.

@TardisGirl81 , it's not you. It's the area. There are young mothers where I am. Teenagers probably. The demographic has different religions and cultures.

24 sounds young now but wouldn't have been in the 1980s.
24 sounds the right time to me, but I've seen women wait until their late 30s before TTC and it not happen.

Women who have gone to university statistically have children ten years later than those who don't.

It’s true though, and I’m saying that as someone who had them young in a poorer area. It’s always funny to me that well off people um and ahh over whether they can afford it while it’s the poorest who have the most.

31.1 for my area (2024 figures). You can google it. I was 41. My maternity ward neighbour had just had her second and she was 20.

I was 28 when I had my first which felt neither too young nor too old to me, but I was quite young compared to most of the other new first time mums I met. At that time, I lived in a city with some pretty affluent areas, lots of creative types and high earners. I joined the NCT where my fellow new mums were mainly dentists, lawyers and corporate types. They were mostly ten years older than me having their first child- so in their late 30s.

But in other parts of the city- some of the shopping areas or soft play centres for example- I was average or older compared to many of the mums I saw.

By the time we had our second DC, I was 30 and we lived in a different town with a different demographic. Here I was bang-on average compared to other mums with similar age children. Having children late 30s or 40s is much less common here.

Mind you, when I was 32 with a 4 year-old and a 2 year-old, someone asked me if I was the DCs Grandma 😭 I don’t believe I looked 60 at the time (which was the age my DCs’ actual Grandparents were) and I was obviously horrified. However, this woman had just arrived in the UK for the first time ever, having travelled over from NY. In the borough in which she had always lived, most girls were having their first babies aged 16 or 17, so it was an interesting conversation and I understood how she would have thought I was a Grandma in my early 30s 😂

My two uni best friends and I had our firsts around 30. I felt fairly typical for my area, one was years older than anyone else in her town and the other was much younger than her local peers. It’s very demographic dependent.

No idea. I’m 30 and the youngest of my mates and none of us have had our children yet. People around me with babies seem in their 30s/40s and data says first time mums in London are on average 32.5… I’d imagine that’s the middle of two extremes evened out though.

I was 33 and one of the first of my uni friends,,but one of the last of my school friends. At school, I am maybe average age/ on the younger side compared with others, as lots of older mums.

Maybe you need to look at the stats (in the same way the OP could have). Its just fact.

Yep same. I think people want to feel like their choice to wait was for good reason, but it often ends up putting down younger mums. I don’t take these seriously anymore.

Yes 39 is an old first time mum.

Don’t let some narrow minded people make you feel bad. My good friend had her first aged 23 and she’s a Lady. Only 12 years ago.

39 is old for a first time mother, even if you're super duper rich and educated.

It's a silly question, I don't think the have stats for every city do they?

You can't even generalise about your kids own school. There are mums all ages from 20 to 50 but how would I know if it's their 1st child or their 4th? What is the point of the question, why does it matter??

Upper-middle-class, and upper-class women in my area tend to have their first child between around 26/27 and 32. Working-classes, and lower-middle classes about 31 to 34. Lower-working-classes under 25.

As has been said, 39 is not bang on average for a first time mother - anywhere...

Speaking from just my own experience I was 25 when I had my first and most of the mum’s in baby classes etc were the same age with a few 18-20 and then a couple 35-37, now at the same classes with my second and again would say average age I see is late 20’s obviously with some exceptions either side

I've been told I live in the county with the highest average age of first time motherhood (west sussex).

Not many Upper Class women in my area. Not many Upper-middle-class either.
There are some nearby I believe but rumour has it they have the baby delivered at the Portland Hospital, but they have a pied-a-terre in London.

Had my first at 35 (but was trying for a few years).

still the first in my friendship group to have a baby

London based

Lol but not always. My best friend had her kids at 18 and 20. Then went to university.

The poster is responding to what she sees and knows. Why be so critical of her answer.