The Best Age to Have a Baby

Forget health, science, culture, and religion. From an economics point of view,
What’s the best age to have a baby? The answer: [bold added]

Fertility graph (pregnancy.sogc.org)

To maximise their lifetime earnings, women should aim to have their first child between the age of 31 and 34.

the [Danish] study concluded that women who waited until 31 to have a child earned more over their entire careers than women without children.

The study’s authors suggest that older women, who tend to be more highly skilled, are harder to replace in the workplace – so companies may bend over backwards to support them. Older women may also be more attached to their careers, and less willing to give them up. And they tend to earn more so are better placed financially to offload their children on other people during the day.

Yet according to this study, there’s not much to be gained financially from delaying having children until after the age of 34. College-educated women who have their first child between the ages of 31 and 34 earn on average 13% more than women without children. However, women who have their first child between the ages of 34 and 37 earn only 2% more than women without children.

Other tidbits:

"Having a child before the age of 25 is particularly impoverishing."

Conceive with a younger man: "there was a 62% drop in sperm supply between men in their early 30s and those in their early 40s."

What is a bug to some is a feature to others: 20-somethings who don't want to get pregnant should take another look at 50+ year old guys, who take less energy to keep happy and would be very grateful for the attention....or so I've heard. Besides, you can't argue with fertility science.

[On a serious note, as the latter-day Reign of Terror obliterates all progressive strongholds, i.e., Hollywood, government, the media, and (eventually) academia, your humble blogger must point out that he is only referring to situations where women initiate contact. So please spare me, he whimpered.]