Women In 40s Give Birth More, Millenials Are Into 'Career Over Children' Trend In England

Women over 40s in England and Wales have more babies than the younger generations. Official figures show that this is the first time in about 70 years.

Women over 40s were found to have 15.2 births per 1000 women, while women in their teens had 14.5 births per 1,000 women. Results from the Office for National Statistics Data in England, showed that there were 697, 852 live births during 2015.

These women over 40s have higher fertility rate than teens or women in their 20s, the same trend  back in 1947 during the wake of World War II, Guardian reported. The data showed two key trends to who and when women are having babies in England and Wales.

In England, the rate of teen pregnancy has been declining from the highest teen pregnancy of 1990, which was 33 births per 1000 teenagers. Recently, teen pregnancy is half of that. However, women who are in older age groups increased live births by 5.3 for every 1,000 women in 1990. In recent reports, the average age of women having children is 30.3 years old and this has been increasing since 1975.

Women over 40s can have children due to new fertility treatments. ONS stated that due to the rising costs of childbearing, an increasing number of women are getting higher educational levels. These people's attitude towards career have become more prominent than childbearing.

ONS statistics outputs head officer Liza McLaren said that the trend of women in older age groups having babies continued in 2015. She also revealed that women aged 35 and above have been increasing the percentage of live births for over the last 40 years, BBC News reported.

Age groups below 25, however, showed that fertility rates are dropping. Those that are 30 years old and above, age 30 to 34 have the highest fertility rate amounting to 11 births per 1000 women.

British Fertility Society professor and chairman Adam Balen, said that they are aware of female fertility rising from 30 years old and over, but men and women should be wary of the dire consequences of reproduction in older women.

Women over 40s might find it difficult or longer to get pregnant and may lead to miscarriages, complicated labour, and the child might need a form of medical intervention at birth.