When is 'the correct age' to give children?

By Andrea Ferreira

The late marriage of society as a whole is progressing not only in Japan, but also in many developed countries, and accompanying it, the age at which women give birth is also rising. It is very important to keep in mind the timing of childbirth by balancing with your own career, but on the one hand you need to firmly consider that there is a "proper age" suitable for childbirth.

What is the 'right' age to have a child?
https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-right-age-to-have-a-child-106951

As women's social advancement spreads, companies also have the case to show movement to support it. Companies such as Apple, Facebook, and Google include plans to "Freeze female eggs while young" among medical programs offered to employees, so that women of the so-called "childbearing age" The environment is set up so that you can work safely without interrupting your career.

There is a plan to allow people to design careers and lives more freely, but still biologically it is possible to avoid various risks by giving birth while age is low It is said that gender will increase. In the survey in the United States, it is known that children born to mothers aged 35 and over and fathers over 45 years old are at increased risk of genetic and neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism.

Also, when parents with age are pregnant, it may be necessary to support by artificial insemination rather than normal fertilization. However, children given by artificial insemination often cause preterm birth and low body weight birth, which means that the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases to occur later in life.

Furthermore, the higher the age of the father, the lower the activity of the sperm, the lower the ability to fertilize. In this way, the risk of elderly birth is present not only in women but also in men's side.

Not only Japan is progressing towards late marriage of the whole society. In the following figure in which couple gave children on average in the United Kingdom and the United States, in the 1990s the birthing age, which was generally 30 years old or less, rose to around 30 years in 2016 It is shown.

On average, it takes about a year before a couple who started "pregnancy" actually gives up their children. Nonetheless, there are statistics that, on average, one pair of couples in seven pairs can not be pregnant, but this situation worsens with age. In the case of a couple whose couple was between 35 and 39 years old, the probability of failing in pregnancy was one pair in 6 pairs, and when the age of 40 years old and over, one child had a disadvantage in proportion to one pair I will excuse you. The probability of successful artificial insemination also decreases with age. There is also statistical result that if the female is over 40 years old, the success rate of artificial insemination will be less than 10%.

Meanwhile, there is also "merit" obtained by delaying delivery period. Pregnancy and childbirth are processes that only women can do, and during that time various activities are largely restricted. Also, it is necessary to devote much time to child rearing after childbirth, so it is a fact that it is difficult to continue working like men.

The fact that women receive unfavorable influences on their careers due to childbirth is sometimes spoken in the phrase "motherhood wage penalty" (wage penalty due to being a mother) ", the income decreases from the women's career side, There is a situation that you have to engage in "no wage labor" nursing. However, this "penalty" has revealed the research result that we can obtain more income by reducing the influence by delaying the birthing period.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that this penalty is not limited to women. In Norway, since 1993 a system to give childcare leave to men has been introduced, but the results of research that the father's lifetime annual income using this system tends to be negatively influenced is also disclosed.

By Stubborn Yeza

It is extremely important to measure the timing of the biggest event for the couple "When will you give the child" to do more free and rich life design? From the idea that the earlier the better it is, the idea that it is better to delay to some extent from various circumstances, the ideal image varies depending on individuals and couples, so there is no absolute correct answer.

However, it is important to know that there is an undeniable fact that risks associated with age exist, it is important to prepare enough before it becomes too late. Biologically, it is said that the preferred age for childbirth is female under 35 years old and male under 40 years old.