In May, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that the average age of first-time mothers in the U.S. has been steadily creeping upward — new moms are generally around 28 years old nowadays, up from 26 just four years ago. Likewise, a new study found that first-time fathers are also older than ever.
As the New York Times reports, researchers from Stanford University analyzed data on more than 168 million live births between 1972 and 2015. They found that, on average, the age of the father of a newborn in the U.S. has risen to about 31, an increase from 27 back in 1972.
The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, found that paternal age actually increased across the U.S. — with the oldest first-time dads living in the Northeast, and the youngest in the South. First-time fathers with college degrees are now around 33 years old on average, as compared to 29 for those with only high-school diplomas. Furthermore, Asian first-time fathers tend to be the oldest by ethnicity, while Hispanics and blacks are the youngest.
“One thing that did surprise me is that the difference between mothers’ and fathers’ ages has been decreasing,” lead study author Dr. Michael L. Eisenberg told the Times. “The father is still older than the mother, but the gap is narrowing.”
Wonder how long it’ll be until these guys are the norm.
