The average age for giving birth to a first child was about 24 years for women and 27 for men in 2019, according to the report, which was based on a national survey of almost 21,500 Americans aged 15 to 49.
In fact, “delayed childbearing, having a first child at age 35 or over, increased ninefold between 1972 and 2012,” the authors noted.
By 2019, “roughly one-half of first births occurred before marriage ,” the researchers noted, “and one-half of all premarital first births occurred within cohabiting unions.” Those numbers are similar to those seen in the 2011-2015 report.