Australian Women Delaying Motherhood with Fewer Children

Australian women are having fewer children, and having them later in life than previous generations, government data has revealed.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday released data on births in the country in 2022, revealing that the total fertility rate (TFR) fell from 1.70 births per woman in 2021 to 1.63 births per woman in 2022 while the average age of new mothers and fathers continued to rise.

Australia's TFR has been lower than the replacement rate of 2.1 needed to replace a mother and her partner and ensure a stable population in the absence of overseas migration since 1976.

According to ABS data, 60 percent of births in 2022 were to mothers in their 30s - up from less than 20 percent in 1975 - the earliest year for which data is available.

"Today's data continues a trend we've seen in births over the last 40 years, with the average age of both mothers and fathers steadily increasing since the mid-1970s," Emily Walter, head of demography at the ABS, said in a media release.

"From 1991 to 2022, the fertility rate of mothers aged 35-39 years has almost doubled from 36.0 to 69.3 births per 1,000 women, and for mothers aged 40-44 years, it has nearly tripled from 5.5 to 15.8 births per 1,000 women.

"In contrast, the fertility rate of teenage mothers has reached an all-time low of 6.8 births per 1,000 women, from 22.1 births per 1,000 women in 1991."