Surprisngly The Ideal Age For Having A Baby In Iowa Is Really Young

Many Americans are having children later in life.  However, in Iowa, men and women still believe families should be starting young.  Really young compared to the rest of the country.

But there are hurdles in the way of that ideal age for having a baby no matter where you live.

Average Age To Have A Baby In The US

For the first time in recorded American history, the average age to have a child for new moms is now 30 years old.

According to a new survey from chiccousa.com, women were asked "If they were able to conceive at any age, would they have waited longer to have kids?"  37% said yes, with 62% saying no.

So while the median age to have a child is 30, a large percentage would have waited longer.

Why Are People Waiting Longer To Have A Baby?

There are a lot of people waiting longer for their own reasons.  But some of the top responses in this survey were:

• 35% - Commitment to a partner
• 18% - Financial stability
• 17% - Emotional maturity
• 14% - I was not ready to be a parent
• 10% - Physical maturity
• 4% - Pressure from partner or others
• 3% - Homeownership

Iowans Are Ready For Babies Before Anyone Else In America

The ideal age to have kids in the U.S. varies from state to state. In Iowa, the average age for parenthood is 27. Iowa residents gave the youngest average answer for the ideal ages of both men and women to start having children, 27 years 7 months and 26 years 4 months, respectively.

West Virginia and Utah were around the same age of 27.  But in the northeast, people are more on that new median.  Connecticut is the oldest and the only state to average over 30.  Massachusetts and Maine are just a few months below 30.

No matter where you live the reasons to have a child, or wait on having a child need to be your personal decision.  If you are not ready, there is no reason to rush.  When you are ready go for it.