Insee Première · January 2022 · n° 1885

Fertility after 40 has been rising steadily since 1980

Late fertility (at age 40 or older) has been increasing since the 1980s. Prior to that, it had been declining steadily since the late 1940s. This rebound is part of the upward trend in the mean age at childbearing since the mid-1970s. If the fertility rates observed at each age in 2019 remained unchanged, 100 women would give birth to a total of 10 children between the year they reach 40 and the year they reach 50.

Among women who were working or had worked, managers and higher intellectual professionals had the highest late age fertility: 11 children per 100 women, compared to 9 in other social groups. Late fertility was higher among women born abroad than those born in France. It was the case in every social group, the difference being less marked among managers.

Nearly one in three births occurred among couples without common children at home. Half of babies were born from couples who had at least already one child together: six times out of ten, they were their third child or more. Conversely, a quarter of babies from late pregnancies were their mother’s first, and even more, a third, when the mother was a manager.