WASHINGTON, DC — A new federal report confirms that women are getting ever older before having their first child. When the radical feminists told women that they could “have it all,” they forgot to tell people that there are no cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all formulas for success. “Women today have many options available to them and many have the luxury of tailoring a life plan that includes both their personal and professional goals,” comments Patricia Reed, Director of Programs for the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF).
Reed is referring to a recent study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that women were, on average, more than “three and a half” years older in 2000 than in 1970 when giving birth for the first time. In 2000, the average American woman was 25 years old when she had her first child. In 1970, the average woman was 21.4 years old.
The IWF believes that women should be able to chart their own courses through life. For many women, they have decided to fulfill their own dreams — traveling, working to achieve a certain level of recognition, success, or financial security — prior to embarking upon the journey of motherhood.
“How women spend their time and when they choose to have children are personal decisions. I, myself, had my first child at age 30. Women today understand that ‘having it all’ means having choices. Now that’s liberation,” says Reed.
The Independent Women’s Forum, founded in 1992, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization.