In some countries around the world men and women are having children later in life. What are the reasons for this development? What are the effects on society and family life?

n modern society, young people have a tendency of postponing their parenthood until their late 30’s or even early 40’s. The reasons for this phenomenon are the desire to achieve a perfect career and desire to have financial stability, which have huge effects on society and parenting. To begin with, the labor market demands solid education from both genders and pushes them through cut-throwing competition for desired positions. Partners have no choice and postpone to settle down to gain higher education and establish themselves in their careers. Furthermore, it is quite a challenge for women to balance between being a mom and professional, especially in order to have an edge in some competitive workplaces, women consequently put off their plans for having babies. Moreover, women can buy some time thanks to new technologies. They can have babies even in their forties due to fertility technologies allowing eggs freezing. This option has given women some flexibility in deciding the right time for them to have babies. Another reason for late childbirth is to be able to afford all expenditures for their offsprings. Young people prefer to be sure in their possibility to provide kids with basic needs such as food, clothes, healthcare plan, proper education and traveling. It is obvious that late parenting has an enormous effect on both society and family. For instance, speed ageing of population, which directly leads to a shortage of labor force in future and increases government costs on healthcare. Consequently, medical treatment becomes more expensive. Furthermore, it may also increase pressure on young couples as they have to face the caring need of elderly family members. These factors could lead to significant cut in birth rates and to greying society. However, there are positive effects such as conscious parenting. For example, older parents who have secure jobs and income tend to have more financial ability to provide their children with great study. In addition, without the stress of earning money, older parents can spend more time with their children and accompany them with patience. In conclusion, there is a number of reasons for delaying parenthood such as financial independence and high competition among young people for better job places, which affect both positively and negatively on society and family.