Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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MEDIAN AGE OF PARENTS

The median age of mothers for all births registered in 2010 was 30.7 years. The median age of women who gave birth in a nuptial relationship was 31.7 years, more than four years older than those who gave birth in an ex-nuptial relationship (27.3 years). Of those who gave birth in an ex-nuptial relationship, the median age of women where paternity was not acknowledged (25.5 years) was lower than where paternity was acknowledged (27.4 years).

Until the 1930s, the median age of mothers giving birth was decreasing. During the 1930s, the median age stabilised, then rose briefly at the end of the Second World War, with an equally sharp decline immediately following the war. The median age of mothers fell substantially over the following three decades, reaching a low of 25.4 years in 1971. The reinterpretation of abortion law in New South Wales in 1971 was associated with a substantial fall in births to young women and an increase in the median age of mothers. From 1972, the median age of mothers consistently increased, reaching 30.8 years in 2006, the highest on record.

Data quality investigations during processing of 2007 birth registrations data indicated that age of parents, and therefore median age, may have been slightly overstated for some birth registrations in 2006 and previous years (see paragraph 50 of the Explanatory Notes for more information). Despite the uncertainty associated with information on age of mother, the increases in median age of mother apparent since the early 1970s appear to have halted. The median age of mothers has remained at 30.7 years since 2007 except for a small decline to 30.6 years in 2009, which was the lowest median age recorded since 2004.

2.6 Median age of parents, Australia - 1930 to 2010