The Number of People Over 40 Giving Birth Surpasses Teens for the First Time

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Just a few decades ago, the idea of having kids in your 40s was nearly unheard of. Nowadays, though, having kids in your 40s is fairly standard. More and more couples consider waiting to have kids in order to travel, work, or just to keep their lives calm before the chaos starts—and this idea is no longer taboo.

New data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) proves just how much this trend has increased over the past few years: Research shows that more parents than ever are starting families well into their 40s.

The birthrate is declining
The first part of the study, which was released in early March, found that people are having fewer children than ever. Between 1990 and 2023, the number of babies born in the U.S. dropped by 14%. The data also show that this number is continuing to decline. For example, parents in the U.S. had an average of 1.66 children in both 2021 and 2022; in 2023, that average dropped to 1.62 children.1

There could be many reasons for this change, including the increasing costs of homes and childcare, or a growing focus among young people on travel and career.

People are having kids later in life
The more interesting part of the data is that for the first time, the number of parents giving birth who are aged 40 and over has surpassed the number of teenagers giving birth. This is a good thing, because the U.S. has been trying to lower the teen birth rate for years, and clearly we've had some success.2

It also shows that older parents having babies has become a sizable demographic. Looking at statistics, the increase is striking. For instance, the report found that between 1990 to 2023, fertility rates for birthing parents aged 35 to 39 shot up 71%. And while it might once been considered unsafe to have a baby in your 40s, the fertility rate among birthing parents aged 40 to 44 and 45 and older went up a whopping 127%.1

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