For the first time in Danish history, over-45s are giving birth to more children than teens, according to Danmarks Statistik.
In 2022, the over-45s gave birth to 220 children – 23 more than the total provided by mothers aged 19 or lower.
Some 50 years ago in 1973, the year in which Danmarks Statistik started collecting such data, teenage mothers gave birth to 4,708 children.
Back then, the average age of a first-time mother was 24. Today it is 29.9.
Contraception and fertility
There’s a good reason for the fall in teenage mothers, University of Southern Denmark expert Ryohei Mogi told Berlingske: contraception!
“The use of contraception and the spread and level of education play a decisive role. Fewer people want to have children while they are studying, so they wait until they have a job,” he said.
While the rise in over-45s giving birth can easily be explained by improvements in fertility treatment, added Mogi.
In 2021, the healthcare system presided over 37,560 fertility treatments, according to Sundhedsdatastyrelsen figures.
