There is something interesting going on in the maternity wards of America. In a place for babies, the faces are getting older. First, the teen birth rate is in decline. While the U.S. teen birth rate is higher than that of many other developed countries including Canada and the United Kingdom, the U.S. department of Health and Human Services reports the teen birth rate has declined almost continuously over the past 20 years.

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According to the HHS website, in 1991the U.S. teen birth rate was 61.8 births for every 1,000 adolescent girls compared with 26.5 births for every 1,000 adolescent girls in 2013.
That’s not all. The average age of first-time mothers in the U.S. has hit a record high of 26. The rise in age continues a 15-year trend in all 50 states that has sped up since 2009.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics says increases in the availability of birth control and more women pursuing career opportunities before having children have played a significant role in the age increase, though the drop in mothers under 20 is the most significant explanation.

CDC data shows that the mean age of first-time mothers increased from 24.9 years old in 2000 to 26.3 years old in 2014. (UPI)

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