Definition: Mean age of women at childbearing by generation

Category: Demography

The mean age of women from the same generation when their children are born. The mean age is normally calculated when women have reached the end of their childbearing years (at age 50). The mean age of women at childbearing for a given calendar year comprises the fertility rates by age for women of different generations. By adding the rates for each of the calendar years lived by the same generation from the beginning of their childbearing years (at 15 years of age), the mean age at childbearing for this generation can be obtained. In principle, this calculation cannot be made until the generation has reached the end of its childbearing period, at around 50 years of age, but in practice, the fertility rates for older women can be estimated using the rates observed for previous generations. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/statmanuals/files/KS-CC-03-005-EN.pdf