Motherhood isn’t what it used to be. Driven in large part to more women going to college – along with more new moms going back to work – American mothers see their roles changing.
According to the numbers:
- The average age of the first-time mom in the United States has crept up over the last several decades, from 21.4 in 1970 to 27.5 in 2023, according to the latest U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.
- Moms are having fewer kids. According to the Pew Research Center, “In the late 1970s, women at the end of their childbearing years (ages 40 to 44) had, on average, more than three children. In 2020, women had about two children on average.”
- And while most women told the Pew researchers that being a mom is “enjoyable and rewarding.” But they’re also more likely than dads to say that parenting is harder than they expected.
