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(CBS News) Amid a recession, the birth rate in the United States has been falling - but not for all women.
U.S. birth rates declined about 16 percent among women ages 15 to 24 between 2007 and 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Similarly, among women 25 to 29 rates went down more than 8 percent, and among women 30 to 39 rates decreased about 4 percent.
But, when it came to women aged 40 to 44, rates rose more than 6 percent during this time. These trends continue a pattern among women of starting their families later than their mothers did that's been underway for decades, according to Elizabeth Gregory, director of women's studies at the University of Houston and research fellow on the Council on Contemporary Families. In 1970 the average age at first birth was 21, today it's over 25.
Almost 40 percent of all U.S. babies in 2010 were born to women over 30, and almost 15 percent - 1 in 7 - were born to women 35 and over. One in four first births were to women 30 and over, and one in 12 were to women over 35.
Though women evidently see virtues in delay, that hasn't been the case with public perception. Instead of clear analysis, there's a lot of misinformation, both about why women are delaying and what the effects of fertility are for individual families and for society at large.
Gregory, author of "Ready: Why Women Are Embracing the New Later Motherhood," breaks down seven common myths about late motherhood.
Also, this article makes way too many general assumptions.
People I know who're waiting to have children have already made clear that they're in "neither the time nor the place" to do it, indicating the condition of the American educational system as well as the cost of living are the two biggest factors (for them).
For me? I wouldn't have a child in America at this moment, period. Canada, maybe. Europe, more likely. But this is not the world I'd leave to my children or, more importantly, leave my children to.
My father died before I was two, and we were very poor. My mom was so worn out from working and taking care of young kids in her fifties that I never really had a hands-on mom. And she never got a chance to enjoy her golden years.
In school, everyone thought my mom was my grandmother. She was by far the oldest mother of all my peers.
Having older parents sucks. It's not fair to the parents or to the child.
So...by the time I turned 21 & got married I said "been there, done that" as far as having babies right away goes. I waited 14 years before having my first child at age 36 and my second at age 39. Before I had kids I finished college and got a good-paying job that I knew I could take maternity leave from & still have it when I got back. My husband & I saved up & bought a new home, traveled to Europe and did the things my parents couldn't because they were saddled with 6 kids. When I had my kids, I was ready and we both wanted them. I was lucky enough to get pregnant within 3 months of trying for both kids. We've enjoyed being parents and having the means to provide things my husband & I never had as kids - our kids did dance, hockey, music, etc. We've had wonderful family vacations. We can afford steak once or twice a week. Our kids were able to BE kids, without the difficult responsibilities I had. I truly think I've had more fun being a mom than my poor mother did.
The only regret is that I am older & if my kids wait as long as I did, then yes, I'll be a really old grandma. My husband's mom had him (the youngest of 7 kids) when she was 42. She lived long enough for my kids to know & love her, but when she came to "help me" after the birth of my daughter, it was more work for me having her around since she was 82 (of course I never let her know that).
All in all, I wish more people would take the time to be prepared to be parents - get schooling done, get decent jobs, save up some money, do stuff together as a couple first, THEN have kids. By then you'll be ready to be the parents all kids need (and so many lower-income kids don't have).