An extended (family) perspective on childbearing postponement

The past decades have been characterized by a considerable postponement of childbearing behaviours. Given that women who postpone childbearing come, on average, from higher educational and social strata, children of older mothers are expected to benefit from this process. However, evidence presented by the “weathering” hypothesis literature suggests that ethnic minority children do not necessarily benefit from their mothers’ older age at (first) birth, suggesting that the process and outcome of postponement could be seen as qualitatively different processes for subgroups of the population. In light of these differences, it is important to consider whether any other aspect of the family sphere, in addition to/or rather than socioeconomic status, alters as maternal age at (first) birth increases. For example, knowledge of whether patterns of kin support change with increasing maternal age at birth is not well-established. This is an oversight as diminished participation in kin networks could have negative consequences for ethnic minority mothers and their children as it could be associated with more stressful and difficult pregnancies. This paper intends to investigate whether in the U.K. patterns of kin support change with increasing maternal age at birth and differently across ethnic groups.