The average age of women at the birth of their first child continues to progress. In 2023, he reached 29.1 years, compared to 24 years in 1974, according to data published last Wednesday by INSEE. This development is part of a background trend initiated in the late 1970s in France and within the European Union.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, the average age to the first child has thus increased by 0.9 years since 2013, by 5.1 years since 1974 and 4.9 years compared to 1967.
Longer studies and a change in society
Initially, this decline in the age of first maternity was mainly explained by better dissemination of contraception, the extension of higher education and an increasing involvement of women in the world of work.
Today, other elements come to prolong this dynamic, such as economic, political or environmental uncertainties, which can lead couples to postpone their child project. INSEE also mentions the increase in the duration of schooling as a determining factor.
An impact on the entire birth calendar
This lag of the first maternity logically leads to a postponement of the following births. In 2023, women who have a second child did it on average at 31.6 years, almost five years more than in 1967. On the other hand, the interval between two births remains almost stable, around 4.2 years – barely 0.1 years older than in 2013.
A European trend with regional differences
France is no exception. At the European Union level, the average age at the first birth was 29.8 years in 2023. However, notable disparities remain: the countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltic States recorded lower averages (between 26.9 and 28.9 years), while the countries of the South, like Italy, further postpone the first maternity. In Italy, for example, the average age reaches 31.8 years.