Pennsylvania women are giving birth later
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Pennsylvania women are waiting longer to have kids than they did two decades ago, according to new data.
Why it matters: Increased access to fertility treatments and reliable birth control are helping more women delay parenthood, although obstacles remain to getting pregnant later in life.
State of play: The average age of a mother in the Commonwealth is now 30 years old, according to provisional CDC data.
- Pennsylvania is above the national average, 29.7 years old.
The big picture: Nationally, the birth rate for teenagers and women in their early 20s dropped to record lows in 2024, while the birth rate for women over 30 rose, per the CDC data.
- And women aged 30-34 had a higher birth rate (95.4 per 1,000 women) than those in their late 20s (91.4).
What they're saying: "Fertility declines with age, but 35 is not a cliff by any stretch," Emily Oster, an economist and bestselling author of pregnancy and parenting books, tells Axios.
- "Plenty of people have kids in their late 30s, but it might take a little more work and you might want to be thoughtful about your timing," says Oster, who recently launched a "trying to conceive" (TTC) section on her ParentData website.
Zoom out: Women in Washington, D.C., are the oldest on average when they give birth, at 31.8 years old, followed by Massachusetts (31.7) and Connecticut (31.3).
The other side: The youngest moms were concentrated in the South — Mississippi (27.5 years old), Arkansas (27.7) and West Virginia (27.7).
Between the lines: Knowing about fertility barriers ahead of trying to conceive could encourage hopeful older parents to address a medical issue and perhaps freeze eggs for IVF early on — giving them a better shot at pregnancy.
- It remains unclear whether access to IVF will be affected by recent reproductive health funding cuts and legislative battles.
Yes, but: Even with new fertility technology and planning ahead, infertility can't always be overcome.