Washington Post Examines Parenting Among Young College Graduates

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 16 Jan 2008 - 11:00 PDT

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The Washington Post on Tuesday examined how some college graduates are "defying the norm for their class and age group" by having children in their late 20s. New data from CDC's National Center for Health Statistics show that college-educated women who have children usually are about age 30 when they have their first child. For those who "stra[y] from the generational pack, college-educated parents in their 20s often face questions about friendships, careers and their place in life," the Post reports.

According to an analysis of 2000-2006 social survey data from the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center, in cities and suburbs across the U.S., 13% of men and 31% of women ages 25 to 29 with four-year college degrees have had children. Meanwhile, 49% of men and 62% of women in that age group with less education have had children, according to data from University of Maryland sociologist Steve Martin. "This is very significant data," Stephanie Coontz, director of research at the Council on Contemporary Families, said. "It's giving numbers to a trend people have been only inferring," she said, adding that "there is this increasing divergence of highly educated women and less-educated women."

Many college graduates postpone childbearing because they postpone marriage, the Post reports. The median age of first marriage rose from 20 to 26 from 1950 to 2004, according to a new book, "The Price of Independence: The Economics of Early Adulthood," co-edited by Sheldon Danziger, a University of Michigan public policy professor. Danziger also said that many people who seek high-profile careers in metropolitan areas attempt to finish college, work for a few years, go to graduate school and then work in their late 20s before having children.

However, some couples "take the plunge" when they are young to reduce the likelihood of miscarriage and developmental problems, the Post reports. The risk of miscarriage is about 50% after age 40, Arthur Becker, a senior partner at the Obstetrical and Gynecological Group. Some women said that having children early has given them a career edge, adding that they are too young to feel they cannot return to their careers after giving birth and be successful, the Post reports (Shapira, Washington Post, 1/15).

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