Two-thirds of babies born in Ireland are to mothers aged in their 30s.
According to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) here in Ireland, it revealed that the average age of a new first-time mother is 30.
The cost of living alongside further education are two of the predominant reasons why women are opting to have children later in life. 65 percent of all babies born in Ireland are to women aged between 30 and 39 according to the CSO.
The cost of owning a home plus the price of running one on a daily basis was another combined factor that was making women “hold off” and conceive later in life.
The data revealed that homeowners are spending almost three times as much of their weekly income on rent and mortgages than they did in the 1980s. In 1980 just over 7percent was spent on housing costs.
Also revealed in the 2017 CSO statistics found that 23,000 babies were born in 2017 out of wedlock, the average number of children per family has reduced to 1.38 and another notable statistic was the number of same-sex marriages in 2017, which was over 700.
The Times also reported that Irish mothers are amongst the oldest in Europe. Ireland is one of only five countries in the EU where the majority of women aren’t having their first child in their twenties.
