Study: Age of new moms on rise

May 6, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

New mothers in the U.S. increasingly are older and better educated than they were two decades ago, according to a study on the state of American motherhood released today by the Pew Research Center.

But that doesn’t mean women are waiting for just the right moment: The study also found that half of mothers surveyed said that parenthood “just happened.”

Though most women giving birth are doing it within the context of marriage, the study found a record 41 percent of births were to unmarried women in 2008. That’s up from 28 percent in 1990, according to the study, “The New Demography of American Motherhood.” The trend crossed major racial and ethnic groups.

Nearly 14 percent of mothers of newborns were 35 or older two years ago — and only about 10 percent were in their teens. The age trend was reversed in 1990, when teens had a 13 percent share of births.

Today, one in seven babies is born to a mother at least age 35. In 1990, one in 11 had a mother in that age group.

Most mothers of newborns (54 percent) had at least some college education in 2006, an increase from 41 percent in 1990. Among mothers 35 or older, 71 percent had at least some college education.