Age of first time mothers vs women over 25 with high educational attainment


Average age of first time mothers and share of women over 25 who have completed some college or more over the years in the United States

This week we take a look at the average age of first-time mothers and share of women over 25 who have completed some college or more over the years in the United States. 

As you can see the average age of first-time mothers has increased from 22.1 years old in 1970, to  26.9 in 2018. One of the most prominent contributors to this rise has been the ever-increasing share of women who pursue high educational attainment. According to this article in the New York Times,  "women with college degrees have children an average of seven years later than those without". On that front, the percentage of women who have completed some college or more has gone from a low of 18% in 1970 to an impressive 62.6% in 2018 (and 63.5% in 2019, which I did not include in my graph). On the contrary, the share of women who have not completed High School is down to an all-time low of 9.5% in 2019 compared to 39.8% back in 1970.  What are your thoughts on the matter? 



Comments

  1. I think I see why the republicans really don't like abortions. They want them pregnant and not getting an education. Look up "The Dunning-Kruger Effect". It seems to explain why stupid people (little education and life experience) are easy to lead. It is difficult to get either when you are 16 with a baby and out of school. Same might go for the father that ends up dropping out of school and taking and being stuck in a low level job. I know this is rather simplistic. The effect spell it out in more technical terms. Good luck and thanks for the add on section. I would have never though to look it up otherwise. More knowledge leads to better decision making skills.

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    1. Thank you for your input! That is an interesting way of looking at this, and quite worrying if you combine it with how things are unfolding, not just in the US but worldwide.

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  2. You should post this on facebook to get better feedback.

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    1. Feel free to share them on Facebook! I don't have a Facebook page right now.

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