The two bar charts illustrate trends related to childbirth in Australia. The first chart shows the average number of children born to women aged 40-44 between 1989 and the present day, while the second chart details the percentage of women having their first childbirth across different age groups in 2008 and 2018.
In general, the age distribution of women becoming mothers for the first time was more in their 25s and women have significantly reduced giving birth in their 40s, this is in line with the average number of children born to women aged 40-44 years, which has decreased consistently over time as shown in the first chart.
In the first chart, it is evident that the average number of children born to women aged 40–44 has declined over time. In 1989, women in this age group had an average of 3.2 children. By 1999, this figure had dropped slightly to around 2.6 children, continuing to fall to just above 2.0 children in 2009 and now the average number of children born to women in this age group is 1.9 children.
The second chart highlights the age distribution of women becoming mothers for the first time. In 2008, the majority of first-time mothers were aged 25–29, with nearly 25% of births occurring in this group and by 2018, this percentage was just above 22.5%. Even though it had a downward trend, the rate of women aged 30-34 years who had their first child in 2018 was higher compared to 2008 in the same age group. Then, the percentage dropped steadily in the higher age groups, seen the percentage of women having a first birth aged 35-39 falling significantly to 5% in 2008 and 8% in 2018, followed by a noticeable decline in first births occurring among women aged 40-49 was very low across both years around 1% and 3%.