Mean Age of Mothers is on the Rise: United States, 2000-2014.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Descriptive nationwide vital statistics surveillance (registry-based cross-sectional time trends)
What was done
Analyzed birth certificate data from the US National Vital Statistics System to track trends in the mean age of mothers across all birth orders from 2000 to 2014, including subgroup analyses by race/ethnicity and state.
What was found
The mean age of mothers increased for all birth orders from 2000 to 2014, with the largest increase observed for age at first birth, which rose from 24.9 years in 2000 to 26.3 years in 2014. Increases across all birth orders were most pronounced between 2009 and 2014. In 2014, mean age at first birth was highest among Asian or Pacific Islander mothers (29.5 years) and lowest among American Indian or Alaska Native mothers (23.1 years). Mean age at first birth rose in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with the largest increases in D.C. (3.4 years) and Oregon (2.1 years).
Why it matters
Provides national surveillance benchmarks demonstrating a widespread demographic shift toward delayed childbearing across all US states and racial/ethnic groups.
Limits
The abstract provides aggregate descriptive statistics without reporting total sample size (n), confidence intervals, or measures of variance. It does not assess the social, educational, economic, or medical factors contributing to delayed childbearing.
Cited by
- supports In the United States, at current prevailing fertility rates, a woman reaches a 50% cumulative probability of ever becoming a mother around age 27.