The bar chart compares five distinct age groups of Australian women when they gave birth to their first child in three years: 1966, 1986 and 2006.
Overall, it is clear that the number of women in Australia aged 25 to 29, 30 to 34, 35 to 39 and over 40 gave birth to their first child in three surveyed years witnessed an increase, while the opposite was true for other age groups. Additionally, the figure for Australian women aged 30 to 34 experienced the most significant growth.
Looking at increasing groups, in 1996, the number of women in Australia from the 30-34 age cohort accounted for over 10%, after a 40-year period, the percentage of those rose dramatically by approximately 36%, being the highest compared to the other age groups in 2006. The figure for women aged 35-39 experienced a gradual growth, from about 9% to nearly 30% after 40 year. The proportion of first child gave birth by women from 25-29 age group accounted for 39% of total, before levelling out and surging back to over 41% in 2006. Among these groups, the number of women from 40+ age group that gave birth to their first child are minimal.
Regarding the other age brackets, the percentage of Australian women from 20-24 accounted for the largest share with over 60% in 1966, before experiencing a significant decrease by 30% in 2006. Similarly, the figure for 19 and under age cohort made up over a third in 1966, but the number for 2006 was 24% lower.