Motherhood through time: Women are becoming mothers later, and and there are fewer big families
She is our first teacher because she knows the answer to every question, she is also a doctor and nurse because her kisses are healing. There is a superpowder that finds lost things – they are lost only when it cannot find them, and cooks the best in the world because love is the secret ingredient of every meal she prepares. He gives the best advice because no one in the world wants you as well as her, and everyone who has ever been late home, even at least a minute, know that she always knows what time it is. She’s guessed, Mom.
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Every other Sunday in May marks Mother’s Day, dedicated to all women who shape our everyday life with their hearts and hands. This day, flowers and congratulations are given appropriately, and the opportunity is also a general reflection on the role of mothers in time.
« The mother must always think twice: once for herself and once for her child. »
As the world changed, motherhood changed. Even though the essence of that role remained the same, the environment in which it takes place has changed significantly over the decades. The first most important change, if we have been watching from the 1970s to here, is manifested in the decrease in the number of live birth children. In the past, big families have been common, but today, with increasing urbanization and economic challenges, their number is reduced. In 2023, a total of 31 673 women gave birth, and a total of 32 170 children were lived, which was a drop by as much as 50.4%compared to 1971.
« Mothers don’t sleep! They just care with their eyes closed. »
Motherhood is certainly one of the noblest but also the most challenging roles. Every mother who has been pursuing numerous nights and often neglects her own needs, and especially demanding can be the first months of motherhood.
Certainly, the number of children is multiplied by obligations. However, most children born in 2023, more precisely 45.1%, were the first child, while 34.0% of children were born in that year as a second child and 19.8% as third, etc.
« Who needs a superhero when she’s already there? »
When women on average decide on that step that will inevitably turn their everyday life by 180 degrees and reveal them strength and endurance that they did not even know they had?
The average age of the mother at the first birth in 1971 was 22.6 years, to increase by 2023 by as much as 7.1 years. If the average age of mothers at birth is observed, it is evident that this age is growing, from 25.5 years in 1971 to 31.2 years in 2023.
« It doesn’t matter how old you are or what you do in life – you always need your mom. »
Although the average age in which women become mothers is a little increasing, exceptions still exist, so some as mothers are realized earlier or later given this average. For example, in 1971, of the total number of lived children, 15.3% gave birth to mothers between the ages of 15 and 19, and in 2023. But when it comes to mothers at the age of 40 or more, a slightly different trend is noticed. Namely, in 1971. Only 1.7% of the lived children gave birth to mothers at the age of 40 or more, and in 2023. This share increased to 4.9%.
« Life does not come with instructions, comes with her mother. »
Just as life does not come with instructions, so, unfortunately, no motherhood comes. Although technological progress, thanks to the rapid and light availability of all relevant information, has improved the environment of contemporary motherhood, there is no maternity manual, and the navigation in this role is very often reduced to the method of attempts and misses.
Although the mom’s school does not exist, the educational structure of mothers has certainly changed over the decade. According to data on the educational structure of the Mothers for 2023, there is almost an equal proportion of lived children who gave birth to mothers with a graduate high school, that is, a highly educated mother.
In conclusion, despite changes in trends over the decades, motherhood remains one of the most important and most intense life experiences. Regardless of all social transformations, one does not change, which is – the timeless love of a mother who goes beyond generations.
