In the last year we have finally reached the tipping point that so many of us have been calling out based on anecdotal evidence.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that more than half of all babies born in England and Wales were to mothers aged 30 and over.

Although the average age of first time mothers still sits below the “body clock threshold” at 28.3 years, the statistics show that 51% of all live births are now to 30 plus mummies.

Speculation ranges around financial and career driven reasons but a lot of the conversation seems to be ignoring the fact that age expectancy has also risen, and the pressures on women to “get married and start a family” has subsided over the years.

I think the really interesting story here could be to compare the mothers’ giving-birth-age for urban vs suburban populations. It already seems like Londoners are living their lives 5-10 years behind the non-Londoners. I wonder if that perception is backed up by the big data?