COPENHAGEN, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The average age at which women in Denmark become mothers for the first time has increased by over six years since 1960, with the age for first-time mothers now hovering just under 30, according to a new analysis from Statistics Denmark.
In 2022, the average age of new mothers in Denmark was 29.9 years, compared to 23.1 years in 1960, according to the government agency responsible for compiling statistics on Danish society.
"The fact that women started having children later in life from the end of the 1960s has to be viewed in light of the availability of the birth control pill in 1966, the right to free abortion in 1973, and increases in the level of education and employment for women," Fenja Sondergaard Moller, a specialist consultant at Statistics Denmark, said in the press release.
One striking shift is the changing demographics among first-time mothers.
In 1973, mothers under 25 years old accounted for a substantial 63 percent of first-time births, while in 2022, this proportion plummeted to a mere 12 percent.
Simultaneously, the proportion of first-time mothers aged 40 and above surged from 0.2 percent in 1972 to 2.8 percent in 2022.
"The tendency for women to have children later and later was expected. But it has been surprising that the difference is as great as it is," Moller said.
The analysis also highlighted a significant decline in the proportion of married first-time mothers.
In 1973, a staggering 72 percent of first-time mothers were married, but this figure plummeted to only 32 percent in 2022.
The decline in marriage rates among first-time mothers is particularly pronounced among Danish natives, where only 26 percent were married at the time of giving birth, compared to 70 percent for immigrants from non-Western countries. ■
