For most women who want children, their priorities are clear today. Before they can think about starting a family, they first want to complete their education and establish themselves professionally. And they also need to find the right partner for this.
This pragmatic attitude of young women means that the birth of the first child is repeatedly postponed: mothers today are six years older when they give birth to their first child than they were a generation ago. While the average age of first-time mothers in 1990 was 24.5 years, by 2022 it had risen to 30.8 years. This trend towards late motherhood certainly carries health risks, such as an increased risk of developing diabetes and pregnancy poisoning. In addition, fertility after the age of 30 is already significantly lower than in the early 20s.
The children, on the other hand, often benefit from having a mother with more life experience. This is shown by a new study by the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) and the University of Oldenburg. Based on the National Educational Panel, the researchers examined the connection between later motherhood and child development between the ages of four and nine – an area that has so far been largely unexplored in Germany on the basis of representative data, according to the study.
The results are consistent with international findings that children of older mothers are, on average, more advanced in both their cognitive development and their social behavior than children of mothers who were only in their early 20s when they gave birth for the first time.
The differences are particularly clear in mathematical skills. While children of mothers who were 30 years old or older at the time of birth have average or slightly higher skills, children of younger women mostly have below-average test results. The best math results were achieved by children of female academics.
A similar pattern also emerges for the social-emotional behavior of children – here, however, the differences are somewhat less pronounced. “The findings show that children develop significantly better if their mother is not in her twenties or even a teenager at the time of birth,” says study co-author Mathias Huebener from BiB.
The explanation for this phenomenon, however, is less to be found in the mother’s age per se, but rather in the associated better intellectual and financial resources, says sociologist Susanne Schmid from the University of Oldenburg. “The development of children depends largely on the learning environment they experience in their parents’ home during their first years of life.” Supporting a child at an early age and in the best possible way is closely linked to the parents’ financial and time resources.
According to the study, early motherhood is often associated with lower parental educational qualifications and lower income. If women have their first child later in life, however, they can achieve higher educational qualifications and gain more professional experience beforehand. This promotes a conducive learning environment for the child.
The study also takes into account maternal parenting behavior, which includes, for example, joint parent-child activities, and the mother’s sensitivity in dealing with her child. Maternal well-being and health behavior during pregnancy also play a role: a higher level of general well-being can promote the child’s development, the study says.
However, the study authors do not recommend deliberately postponing motherhood, as pregnancies after the age of 36 are more often associated with health risks for mother and child. However, the results show how important it is to sustainably improve the conditions for young mothers.
“Resource-oriented support for young mothers is helpful in avoiding disadvantages in the development of children,” says Gundula Zoch from the University of Oldenburg. “This includes, for example, reliable and publicly funded childcare services that ensure appropriate support for children. This can enable younger mothers to successfully complete training or studies and guarantee a good start in a job.”