More babies have older dads, early 30s most popular age to be a parent

Over 5% of the babies born in the Netherlands last year had a father over the age of 45, the national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday.

Ten years ago 3.7% of babies had an older dad. Despite the increase, the average age of a father remains 34, the same as 10 years ago.

This is because more men are becoming fathers at a younger age as well, the CBS said. Last year, almost 18% of newborns had a dad aged between 25 and 30, compared with 15.7% in 2005.

The figures also show the average age at which a woman has her first child has also risen marginally, to 29.6 years. In 1971, the average age of a first-time mother was 24.3.

The average number of children per woman last year fell to 1.66, but that is still well above the record low of 1.47, recorded in 1983, the CBS said.