This article was first published on Medium.
It is no secret that more and more young women are tackling the idea of motherhood and determining if it is really what they want. It is no longer a cultural necessity that would force many women into becoming mothers.
Despite some “traditional” thinking still existing in the modern world, it is generally accepted that being a parent is not a requirement. However, it is still insightful to look at what the data says. Public sentiment is one thing, but are women having children any less today?
Let’s take a look.
It’s important to establish first that the fertility rate is measured by births per 1,000 women.
The fertility rate fluctuates often, usually coinciding with historic periods like the Great Depression and Recession, or cultural changes like the increased use of contraceptives and access to abortion in the ’70s. Despite this, there is a clear downward trend. To put it simply, women are having fewer babies than they did in the past in the U.S.
However, the number is not as intense as you might think. You’d have to go back about 50 years ago to see stark drop-offs in the fertility rate. There are way more people living in the U.S. today than they did back then. That explains why the number of births has gone up but the fertility rate has not. They are two separate areas.
There are a myriad of reasons as to why there has been a decline, which will be discussed later, but for now, there is one important trend that gives context to the situation. Yes, the fertility rate has been declining, but when you examine the age groups specifically, there is an age group that goes against the trend.
When you graph the sheer numbers, it doesn’t jump out at you right away. It’s more of the same as what has been discussed.
In the U.S., women are having fewer children than they did in the past, and this trend is especially present when you examine the younger age groups, specifically 15 through 29-year-olds. This makes sense given the rise of women pursuing education and careers now that the opportunity is there. Once you reach the 30s age group, that is where a unique pattern emerges.
Women are having children later.
Something more uncommon in the past, modern women aged 30 and up are having children.
“There’s a flip in the age distribution,” said Elizabeth Wildsmith, a family demographer and sociologist at Child Trends, a nonpartisan research group.
This coincides with the many reasons why the decision for women to have children is a difficult one. The rising costs of child care, the increase in college enrollment among women, the decline in societal expectations and health care, are all reasons as to why the fertility rate has gone down, but it also explains why it has gone up for ages 30 and up.
It is quite an interesting phenomenon and can be visualized when looking at the percent changes from 30 years ago to now.
Thirty years old is where we see the cutoff between declining and rising birth rates. It begins at 30 and just continues to rise as the age goes up. This idea was supported when I spoke to a woman who is in those sharply declining age groups.
“It is one of my biggest fears,” said Elita Wong, 27, when discussing the possibility of not having adequate economic resources to raise a child. It is part of the reason why she wishes to have a child within the 30–35 age range, and also because “[she] needed time to finish school and begin a career before becoming a mother.”
Elita’s ideas reflect the growing ideas among Americans at the current time. Change is good, the disappearance of societal expectations is a great thing, but the rising costs of child care are not. It continues to put women on a biological clock, constantly fearing they may not have enough time to raise a child.
Deciding to rear a child and become a mother is a monumental decision, and women are no longer taking it lightly and are making the decision for themselves.
