Average age of first-time mothers lowest in Sask., report says

(Pexels)

Saskatchewan has the lowest average age of first-time mothers in the country, according to a recent report released by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy.

The report says that since 2012 the average age of first-time mothers in Saskatchewan is 27.3. British Columbia had the highest average age of 30.4 years.

The report also says that since 1965 the average age of first-time mothers in Canada has risen from 23.5 to 29.4 years of age in 2019.

The average age of first-time mothers has risen the quickest in Alberta since 2012, the report states.

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“The fact they continue unchanged through economic booms and busts and across all provinces suggests that these trends have more to do with changing societal norms than with financial considerations, such as the cost of living and the cost of childcare,” the report said.

Financial reasons for deciding when to have a first child are more likely the main explanation for differences across provinces the report said.

“Thus, it is perhaps not surprising that the average age of mothers at first birth is highest in provinces like British Columbia and Ontario, where housing costs, and costs of living in general, have proven to be consistently higher than in other provinces.”

According to the report, in 2016 the average age of first time mothers in Canada was near the average for OECD countries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) at 29.2. However it was noticeably lower than in countries like Spain (30.8) and Italy (31).

The report said data was gathered from Statistics Canada.