Nearly Half Of Men Think 36 Is Old Too For A Woman To Become A Mother

A survey has revealed the 'ideal' age for people to have children - and the results may leave you flabbergasted.

A poll by YouGov asked a proportion of Brits to assess a number of ages brackets between 15-60 and give their opinion on how old both men and women should be when they become parents - with opinions between men and women varying drastically.

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The general consensus of the survey found your mid-to-late twenties to early thirties was the most appropriate time to be having children.

However, opinions on men and women differed on when women were considered 'too old' to become a mother (shocker).

While 57 per cent of women felt that between the ages of 36-40 was 'about the right time' to for a woman to be having kids, nearly half of men (a staggering 46 per cent) thought women becoming mothers at this age "were too old".

Unsurprisingly, this standard didn't apply to men themselves, with only 21 per cent of men thinking becoming a dad between 36 and 40 was "too old". Seven out of ten men, however, thought this was the 'ideal' age to become a father.

Another double standard between men and women? You do surprise us.

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The survey also found that on average, the British public believe the ideal age to become a mum is 28, while for men the ideal age to be a dad is 30.

The average age of becoming a first-time mum in the UK is 28.9. There is currently no public data on what age, on average, men become fathers.

Despite the opinion polls, an increasing number of people are choosing to have babies later in life. According to the Office of National Statistics, there were 2,390 babies born to mothers aged over 45 in England and Wales in 2019 - a rise of almost half in 10 years.

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Naomi Campbell made the surprise announcement on her Instagram page in May that she had become a mum age 50.

You can see the full results of the survey here.

In other parenting news, the World Health Organisation suffered backlash after they said women "of child-bearing age" should be encouraged away from drinking alcohol, as it could be bad for both their and any potential children's health.

You can read more about that here.

Topics: Life News, Life, Parenting

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley