The average age for first-time mothers has hit an all-time record in Germany, climbing to over 30-years-old in 2020 according to figures published by the nation’s statistic agency.
During the first year of coronavirus lockdowns in Germany, the average age of mothers having their first child rose to an average of 30.2 years old, Destatis reported on Tuesday. The age of first-time mothers has a considerable impact on the total fertility rate of a nation, as older mothers are less likely to have further children.
The national statistician noted that this was a over a year older than a decade previously, when the average stood at 29 years old, with the average age increasing consistently through past ten years.
In total, there were approximately 360,000 children born to first-time mothers in 2020, of which 182,400 had mothers between the age of 30 and 40 years old. Less than one per cent (2,900) had a mother under the age of 18 and 2.9 per cent (10,500) were born to mothers over the age of 40.
The increasing trend of women forgoing having children until their thirties has not only impacted Germany, with figures compiled by Eurostat showing that across the European Union the average age for first-time mothers was 29.5 years old. Italy saw the highest average age in 2020 at 31.4 years, with Spain (31.2) and Luxembourg (31.0) coming in second and third across the bloc, respectively.
The youngest average age for first-time mothers in the EU was sen in Bulgaria at 26.4 years, followed by Romania (27.1) and Slovakia (27.2).
The issue has also impacted Britain, with the UK’s Office for National Statistics revealing in January that 2020 was the first year in which the majority of women remained childless by the age of 30, the first time such a milestone has been recorded in history. Meanwhile, during the same year — the first of coronavirus lockdowns — saw the lowest pregnancy rate in 17 years in Britain, despite hopes of a Covid baby boom.
On top of the ageing population of mothers in Germany, the country has also experienced another major demographic shift in recent years, with Destatis revealing last month that the “migrant background” population hit a record high last year, with over a quarter of the population either being foreign-born or having at least one migrant parent.
The micro-census found that 27.2 per cent of people in Germany had a migrant background in 2021.
Despite the country experiencing negative economic consequences and an increase in violent crime in part due to former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to open up the doors to mass migration during the 2015 Europe Migrant Crisis, her successor, Olaf Scholz’s government has vowed to open up more avenues to migration into Germany.
It has been predicted that by the year 2040, at least one-third of the country will have a migrant background. Major cities are expected to bear the brunt of mass migration, with estimates claiming that Frankfurt could see as much as 70 per cent of its people hailing from abroad.
Frankfurt has already seen a radical shift in its population, becoming the first city in the nation to have a minority-majority population, with native Germans becoming a minority in their own city.
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