Depicted in the chart is the percentage of women of different age groups in Australia having their first child between 1966 and 2006.
Overall, Australian women put off giving birth to their first child over the period. The age group who accounted for the highest percentage changed from around 20 years old to over 30 years old.
As to the younger age groups, there was a decline in the proportion of women aged under 24 years old choosing to have the first baby over the forty years, while the proportion of women aged from 25 to 30 years old ranged. The percentage of the youngest group had a sharp decline, commencing with around 34% and ending with roughly 11%. The percentage of 19-24 age group was approximately twice as much as that of women under 19 , which meant it declined from over 60% to below 30%. The proportion of women aged from 25 to 30 years old had an increase between 1966 and 1986 to reach a triumph number 50% before decling to about 38% till 2006.
Regarding women aged over 30 years old, the four decades witnessed a increase in the percentage, among which the percentage of 30-39 age group increaed consistently while the proportion of over 40 age group maintained a relatively stable range of 2% to 5%. There were approximately 13% of women aged 30-34 firstly having a child in 1996, with a growth to 45% in 2006, which ranked highest in that year. A similar increasing trend could be seen in 34-39 age group, which was from 8% to 30%.