New Study Proves Having Children Later Benefits Kids Big Time

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A new study is challenging the notion that starting a family at a younger age is always better than waiting till you’re older to do so.

As reported by the Independent, researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark have found that at ages 7 and 11, kids with older moms have fewer behavioral, social and emotional problems than kids of younger moms, and this positive effect continues until the kids are 15 years old.

The reason why kids with older moms benefit: mothers who wait to start families until later on may be more “psychologically mature” than younger moms.

Not only that, the study also found that older mothers don’t scold or physically discipline their kids as much as younger moms. “We know that people become more mentally flexible with age, are more tolerant of other people and thrive better emotionally themselves. That’s why psychological maturity may explain why older mothers do not scold and physically discipline their children as much,” said lead researcher Dion Sommer, a professor at the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences at Aarhus University. By the time kids are age 15, however, older moms and younger moms discipline about the same amount.

To conduct the study, which is published in the Journal of Development Psychology, researchers surveyed a random sample of 4,741 moms in Denmark about their families, looking for a correlation between maternal age and a child’s social and emotional development when the kids were at age 7, 11 and 15.

Although the study was based in Denmark, the findings are particularly relevant in the United States, where there’s a trend of women delaying first-time pregnancy. As reported by NPR, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found that the average age of first time moms keeps rising. In 2001, the mean age of a first-time mom was 24.9 years old. As of 2014, that number has climbed to 26.3.

Despite the technological advancements that make it possible for women to delay pregnancy, more often than not, you’ll hear about the downside to starting your family later in life. These downsides include the idea that you won’t be as fertile when you’re older and that you’re putting your baby at risk of developing abnormalities. For that reason, it’s refreshing to know there’s an upside to delaying first-time pregnancy, if you do decide to wait.

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