The bar chart illustrates the age of mothers in Australia at the time of their first childbirth in three selected years: 1966, 1986, and 2006 across six different age groups.
It can be seen clearly that the mother age of under 19 and between 19 – 24 collapsed over the period given, while for the mother age of between 30 – 34 and 34 – 39, its soared. At the start of the period, age under 19 was the most popular mother. Age 25 – 30 was the age when mothers gave birth to the most children in the middle of the period but, by the end, mother age of 30 – 34 was most popular.
Regarding to the figures, the pattern in 1966 was largely centred on young motherhood. The 19-24 group recorded the highest percentage, slightly above 60%, before dropping significantly to around 35% in 1986. Meanwhile, the proportion of teenage mothers, which was nearly one-third in 1966, also fell sharply by 1986. In contrast, women aged 25-30 experienced a noticeable rise, increasing from just over 30% in 1966 to become the largest group in 1986 at about 50%.
In 2006, the trend shifted even further towards later motherhood. The 30-34 age group overtook all others, reaching nearly 50%, which was even higher than the peak of young mothers in 1966. Women aged 34-39 also continued to rise, accounting for roughly 30%, making them more common first-time mothers than teenagers by this point. By contrast, the percentages for younger groups kept declining, with the 19-24 category dropping to about 20% and those under 19 reaching their lowest level of around 10%.