Social change and rising ages for having first child

[mackthefork]

Delaying babies 'defies nature' (bbc)

Relates to United Kingdom

The article states that the average age for women having first babies has risen from 26 to 29 over the last 20 years, also that biology hasn't changed, so complications happen more often. We all know that medicine has advanced over this time as well, but we also know that this isn't the main reason why women are choosing to wait until later before having children. The main reason is the social changes regarding womens more prominent place in the workforce, the decision to develop a career and have children later, which I suppose is made easier by an improved confidence in medical science.

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In the BMJ, the specialists write: "Paradoxically, the availability of IVF may lull women into infertility while they wait for a suitable partner and concentrate on their careers and achieving security and a comfortable living standard."



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My questions to the forum...

1) Do you think it matters that more women decide to wait?

2) If this trend were to continue, what are the likely effects?

3) Is it possible birth rates could drop so low, that the population could go into (possibly permanent) decline?

4) Do you think this is a sign of women valuing family less than in the past and money more, or do they just simply see that it is now possible to have both?

5) I'm not sure of whether this compares to US society at all so bear with me, but here women are virtually forced into work (it's possible this is partly to do with the shorter working hours in the UK). It is almost seen as failure by society for a woman to stay at home and raise a family, does this need to change or is it unimportant?

Any comments appreciated, I know this is long my apologies for that fact.

Regards Mack