Women in this California region are spearheading a nationwide trend in postponing motherhood.
Rewritten Article:
Delaying Motherhood in the Bay Area: A Leading Trend
When it comes to having kids later in life to focus on careers and personal aspirations, the Bay Area is paving the way for the nation. This region is home to a significant proportion of women having children when they're 40 and older, a trend that experts attribute to a combination of economic opportunities, progressive social norms, and easy access to reproductive technology.
Three of the five U.S. counties with the most women having children in their 40s are located in Northern California, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. Topping the list is Marin County, where a whopping 11.4% of women who gave birth in 2023 were at least 40 years old. In second place is San Francisco with 10.9%, and fifth is San Mateo County with 8.7%. Los Angeles comes in 15th place at 7.3%. The list includes all counties in the United States with at least 100,000 residents.
Dr. Mary Hinckley, IVF medical director at the Reproductive Science Center of the Bay Area, expressed no surprise at the Bay Area's lead in older pregnancies. Many women in the area prioritize careers and personal experiences over starting a family, she said. The Bay Area is known for embracing diverse family structures and a culture that doesn't traditionally pressure women to start a family young. Around half of Hinckley's patients at the fertility clinic are at least 38 years old.
"I think there's an entrepreneurial spirit for women out here of just taking charge of their lives, advancing their careers, pursuing more schooling, more life experiences – and that's what causes them to get here later," Hinckley shared. "I find so many patients who come to me having hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, surfed in Costa Rica, started a business, switched jobs, and now they're ready to have children."
The average age of a woman giving birth in San Francisco and Marin counties is 33.6 years and 33.5 years, respectively. Nationally, the average age is 29.6, and in Los Angeles County it is 31.2. The proportion of American women giving birth at 40 and older has increased significantly in the last three decades – from 1.3% in 1990 to 4.1% in 2023, according to the CDC.
Hinckley believes that many Bay Area women feel more confident in delaying motherhood because the region has some of the best fertility clinics in the country. Clinics like these can reduce the risk of miscarriages among women age 40 from 50% to 10% by conducting genetic tests on embryos created with in vitro fertilization before they are implanted.
Workplaces may also play a role in helping women become mothers later than previous generations. Bay Area companies offer some of the best coverage in the nation for egg freezing and fertility treatment as an incentive to recruit talented young workers. Hinckley said, "How do you get these young, smart people to be willing to give away their 20s and even 30s to work all the way into midnight? Well, you do that by promising an avenue to be able to preserve their fertility so that they can still have children."
Other counties that made it into the top 10 for the proportion of births among women 40 and older were located in the metro areas of Washington, D.C., and New York City – two hubs for lucrative and demanding careers.
Living in the Bay Area: The Cost of a Baby and Beyond
Welcoming a little one into the world also means welcoming substantial expenses. In California, the average cost of child care for one infant is $21,945, which takes up 18.4% of a median family's income, according to an analysis of federal data by the Economics Policy Institute. Parents are pressured to extend their earning years to cover these expenses, making it difficult to simultaneously raise a family and save for their future.
Dr. Elizabeth Gregory, director of women's gender and sexuality studies at the University of Houston, interviewed over 100 women about their decision to delay childbearing for a book on later motherhood. Common reasons cited included a desire for greater economic stability and access to affordable childcare. "It's not just that they want to have a career, which is part of the story, but also they want their career so they're earning enough to support their children. They don't want to be in poverty, which is where a lot of young mothers live," Gregory said.
Conversely, a study at the University of Virginia found that for every year a woman waits to start a family, her lifetime earnings increase by 3%.
Lastly, the Bay Area's growth in population has been on the rise after a slowdown driven by the pandemic. Marin and San Francisco counties' median annual income for a woman with a full-time job surpasses $100,000 – substantially above the national median income for the same group at $55,240, according to an analysis of U.S. census data by Neilsberg Research. These higher wages provide financial ease for Bay Area women to afford reproductive technologies like egg freezing and IVF, which may be necessary in their mid to late 30s and 40s as fertility declines.
- The Bay Area, California, is known for having a high number of women having children at the age of 40 and above, a trend linked to economic opportunities, progressive social norms, and easy access to reproductive technology.
- Marin County, San Francisco, and San Mateo County are among the top counties in the U.S. with the highest number of women giving birth in their 40s, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Dr. Mary Hinckley, a fertility specialist in the Bay Area, believes that the region's entrepreneurial spirit and focus on careers and personal experiences contribute to women delaying motherhood.
- Many women in the Bay Area prioritize their careers, personal experiences, and education before starting a family, according to Dr. Hinckley.
- The average age of a woman giving birth in San Francisco and Marin counties is significantly higher than the national average, highlighting the Bay Area's trend of delaying motherhood.
- Fertility clinics in the Bay Area, like the Reproductive Science Center, offer advanced technology and genetic tests to reduce the risk of miscarriages, attracting women who are delaying motherhood.
- Bay Area companies offer egg freezing and fertility treatment coverage as an incentive to attract talented young workers, helping women balance their careers and family life.
- The high cost of childcare in California and the need for economic stability and affordable childcare are amongst the reasons women in the Bay Area delay having children, according to studies by researchers like Dr. Elizabeth Gregory.
