We’re waiting longer to have children than ever before, according to new statistics released this week.
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) this week revealed that the median age of mothers in Australia is now 32.1, and fathers was 33.9.
“Since 2014, the median age of mothers increased 1.2 years, while fathers increased 0.9 years,” said Beidar Cho, ABS Head of Demography.
“But in the decade before 2014, the median age of mothers and fathers only rose by 0.3 years for mothers and 0.2 years for fathers.
“This shift toward older parenthood reflects broader social changes and economic shifts. This includes things like more time spent in education such as university and TAFE and higher workforce participation by women. It also shows evolving patterns in how and when people choose to start families compared to previous generations.”
The median age of parents in Australia over the last 100 years reached its lowest point in the 1970s, before steadily rising since then.
There were 292,318 births registered in 2024, an increase of 1.9 per cent (or 5,320 births) from 2023.
51.4 per cent of births were males.
Only 60.8 per cent of births were to parents in a registered marriage.
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.