Australians are continuing to delay parenthood in a growing trend, according to new data.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) head of demography Beidar Cho said the median age of mothers and fathers increased in 2024, representing a slow but steady increase over the last decade.
“In 2024, the median age of mothers was 32.1 and fathers was 33.9,” Cho said.
The median age of mothers and fathers increased last year, according to new government figures. (Getty)
“Since 2014, the median age of mothers increased 1.2 years, while fathers increased 0.9 years.
“But in the decade before 2014, the median age of mothers and fathers only rose by 0.3 years for mothers and 0.2 years for fathers.”
Australians are putting off parenthood due to broader social changes and economic shifts, according to Cho.
“This includes things like more time spent in education such as university and TAFE and higher workforce participation by women,” Cho said.
“It also shows evolving patterns in how and when people choose to start families compared to previous generations.”
The fertility rate, or the number of births per woman aged 15 to 49, was 1.481.
Registered births in Australia rose to 292,318 in 2024, up 5320 births or 1.9 per cent.
More than half (51.4 per cent) were males at 150,299, with female births behind at 142,019, putting the sex ratio at 105.8 male births for every 100 female births.
This was a slight uptick from the year before, when the ratio was 105.6.
Just over 60 per cent of births were to parents in a registered marriage.