Presents data on live birth registrations in England and Wales by parental characteristics. This package contains age-specific fertility rates for men, the mean age of father, and births by National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) of household as defined by occupation.
The standardised mean age of all fathers at the birth of their child has increased by nearly two years over the last two decades from 31.1 years in 1993 to 32.9 in 2013. The standardised mean age of mother increased by a similar amount over the same period, from 27.9 in 1993 to 30.0 in 2013.
For men, the 30-34 age group had the highest fertility rate in 2013, the same age group that had the highest fertility rate for women. Previously, men in their mid-to-late twenties had the highest fertility rate but were overtaken in 1993 by men in their early thirties. The same trend occurred among women a decade later, with the fertility of women in their early thirties overtaking that of women in their mid-to-late twenties in 2004.
Babies born within marriage/civil partnership are more likely to have an older father. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of babies born within marriage/civil partnership in 2013 had fathers aged 30-39. For babies born outside marriage/civil partnership 37% had fathers aged 30-39 while 52% had fathers aged under 30.
In 2013, households employed in intermediate and routine occupations had a mean age of mother at birth under 30 years while households employed in higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations had a mean age of mother over 30 years.
