A new survey says that an increasing number of women delay having kids because of concerns with buying a home, financial stability, and meeting the right partner.
In a recent survey by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), they found out that most women who are under 40 years old are willing to start their own family but can't do so because they still can't afford to buy a house. Aside from that, these women are still looking for the right relationship, ensuring adequate savings and financial stability.
"People take the decision to have a child extremely seriously indeed, and for the majority of women, finding the right person and ensuring a situation of financial stability is what matters most." said Clare Murphy of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.
The report was based on a survey of 1,000 women aged between 20 and 40 who have plans of having children. Results show that women are worried of missing out on the chance of having children but are reluctant because of issues on financial security, costs of having children, having the right childcare, meeting the right person and owning a home.
Around 89 percent of women are knowledgeable of the risks and complications of pregnancy that increase with age. However, more than 40 percent of births in England are to women aged 30 and above.
Meanwhile, 71.3 percent of the women agreed with the statement that they delay having kids because they are afraid of not being the perfect mother. Though BPAS did not specify the factors that describe the term 'perfect mother', most of the women thought it meant being able to successfully juggle their role of being a mother and career women.
Most of the women were concerned with finding the right relationship which accounts to 82 percent. Seventy-seven percent said that they still need to have financial security before starting a family and 40 percent said they are struggling to buy a home for their family.
"Rather than continually warning women about the risks of older motherhood, it would be more productive to push for policy measures that enable women to better combine paid work and motherhood, as many clearly want to do, while ensuring the healthcare services are in place to support the needs of those who wish to or need to wait," added Ms. Murphy.
This survey was conducted after one of Britain's top NHS fertility specialists, Geeta Nargund, wrote a letter to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan on teaching teenagers on the dangers of delaying pregnancy and parenthood.
"I have witnessed all too often the shock and agony on the faces of women who realise they have left it too late to start a family. For so many, this news comes as a genuine surprise and the sense of devastation and regret can be overwhelming," Prof. Nargund wrote in her letter.
"Ideally, if a woman is ready for a child, she should start trying by the time she is 30. She should consider having a child early because as a woman gets older, her fertility declines sharply," she added.
