In many countries, people have children later in life than in the past. What are the causes of this? Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

In modern society, delayed parenthood has been becoming a mainstream in a lot of nations. There are plenty of factors contributing to such a trend, whereas some of the benefits and risks are also coming into focus at the same time. Nowadays, the average age of first-time parents has been increasing for several reasons. First of all, women are hardly enabled to strike a balance between pursuing their career and starting a family. To be more specific, for a female in pursuit of great personal development, she is very likely to put first pregnancy off if her country lacks a comprehensive childcare system and generous maternity or paternity leaves. Secondly, contemporary couples are more well-educated in contrast to all the other previous generations in terms of knowledge related to pregnancy; as a result, the birth rates for younger women declines considerably. As an example, with the widespread use of birth control pills, unexpected pregnancy rate experiences a noticeable drop. Consequently, couples can have their first baby until they are financially and emotionally stable, which may be their mid- or late 30s. The decision to have a baby begins as a personal choice with personal effects, but the phenomenon is already reshaping our society in obvious ways, bringing both positive and negative outcomes. One major advantage is that women may suffer from less discomfort during pregnancy if they wait to have a baby. Research conducted by National Taiwan University Hospital has proved that females who first give birth in their 30s report better fitness, fewer aches and pains compared to those who deliver in their early 20s. On the other hand, late motherhood has an adverse impact, including older parents having less energy and involvement in their children’s lives. In other words, with a possible generation gap, their parent-child relationship may not be as close as that between comparatively young parents and their kids. In conclusion, due to better health education relative to pregnancy and females’ determination to fulfill their own accomplishments, women tend to start their motherhood later recently. It yields both pros and cons, and all of them are worth considering.