For the First Time Ever, Women in Their 30s Are Having More Babies Than Younger Women

There’s been a shift in recent years, where many are waiting until later in life to start their families. But, for the first time ever, there are more women in their 30s having babies than younger women in the US.

NPR reported on this trend in a recent episode of its podcast Planet Money. The episode features Kasey Buckles, an economist at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in studying fertility. Buckles talks about the demographic shift, where we’re seeing women ages 30 to 34 with the highest fertility rate of all age brackets.

The economist says there a handful of different reasons for this change. For starters, there are much less unintended pregnancies happening in younger women, which makes up a third of the overall decline in births since 2007. And the other two-thirds, Buckles believes, has to do with couples not feeling like they’re ready for marriage and kids.

And, according to a recent report from the CDC, fertility rates aren’t only down for younger women, but nationwide. The organization says there aren’t enough babies being born in the US to maintain population.

There could be a bunch of possible scenarios accounting for the trend. A recent survey from the Pew Research Center cites medical issues, age and financial reasons as a few factors weighing in on the decision over whether or not partners will choose to have more kids.

Every woman’s journey to pregnancy is different, but here’s what you should know about having kids in your 20s as well as your 30s.