Luxembourg mums starting families later

Luxembourg has among the oldest first-time mums in Europe, a report has found, ranking the Grand Duchy just behind Italy, Spain and Greece.

With 3.8 percent of first births recorded by women aged 40 and over, Luxembourg has the fourth highest proportion of older first-time mums in the EU, a 2013 Eurostat report suggests.

Only Italy (6.1 percent), Spain (5.1 percent) and Greece (4.1 percent) had a higher proportion of older first-time mums.

The report did not provide answers as to why the rate was so high in Luxembourg. But, one could speculate that it may have something to do with the desire among women to pursue a career in the financial center that is Luxembourg.

According to the report, Switzerland, which in some regions attracts a similar international population to Luxembourg, recorded an even higher rate with 3.7 percent of all first-time mums aged 40 or over.

At the same time, Luxembourg had one of the lowest rates for first births to teenage mums at 2.4 percent, joint fourth with Cyprus, after Italy, (1.8 percent), Slovenia (1.9 percent) and the Netherlands (2.2 percent).

Meanwhile, the report showed that the average age of a first-time mum in Luxembourg was 30 years of age, among the highest in the EU, just behind Italy (30.6) and Spain (30.4).

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