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If talk of babies didn’t happen this Thanksgiving, don’t worry, because another holiday for your mom to get emotional and cry about why she doesn’t have grandkids yet is right around the corner. Like most of my generation, I’m in my mid-twenties and while I’m still trying to get a handle on my career, finances, and love life, kids are completely out of the question until I hit the big 3-0. Much to the dismay of my mom (and her mom), starting a family has taken a backseat among my list of life ambitions, because while kids can wait, climbing the corporate ladder and contributing early to my 401(k) to get that sweet employer match can’t.
Luckily for you, there’s now one more piece of evidence you can put in your arsenal to better tackle those holiday questions about why you haven’t popped out 2.5 kids and settled down in a white picket-fenced house in suburbia just yet.
A study from the London School of Economics showed that kids born to moms in their thirties were statistically more likely to be more intelligent, so take that, Mom. The research team behind the study analyzed 18,000 British children over their growth and development phases, and found that when women had kids in their 30s as opposed to their 20s or 40s, those children scored higher both in intelligence and in cognitive testing (think how well your brain performs actions, remembers information, and problem solves). Of course, this may say more about the mother than about their children – women who become moms in their 30s often have more education, money, and stability – but either way, the decision to wait to pop out some kiddos says good things about you and your future children.
So the next time you’re at a family gathering and you’re getting shade from relatives who tell you that your biological clock is ticking, sit back, relax, and know that you’re actually doing your future kids a good service by not having them before you’re ready. Politely tell Aunt Linda that you’ll think about it sometime next decade and excuse yourself to refill your wine glass – after all, you’re not pregnant yet, so bottoms up..
[via Marie Claire]
Image via Shutterstock
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Steph W.
Steph W. is a new Master's degree graduate with an intern's salary and six-figure taste. She realizes her expectations far exceed reality, so she spends her days pinning away Loubs she pretends are in her physical closet instead of her virtual one. Her hobbies include attempting to trapping her boyfriend into marriage before he finds out how insane she is and pretending that Black Box wine tastes as good as the kind she could afford when she was gainfully employed. Send her tips for getting out of student debt at recruitchairtsm@gmail.com
@therecruitchair
My mom had me when she was 31 and she tells me every day how smart I am so this must be true.
My mom had me at 34 and I can be a fucking moron
Stock girl: would
Fine, I’ll take the one on the right then.
Well played
God damn.
Dillon already called dibs on the girl on the left, are you OK with the girl on the right?
You guys vote for Trump with that mouth? Gonna grab some pussy too while you’re at it?
Mlo, if you’re going to accuse everyone you meet of grabbing some pussy, stop forcing them to shake your hand. That’s called coercion.
What’s it to you?
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )
you are making the big assumption that we will find a spouse by the time 30 rolls around
and we all know what happens when you assume
You don’t have to be married to make a kid
Inner city mothers agree with this statement.
As do Scandinavians and other high functioning societies. But I’m guessing you don’t have a passport any only leave your town to “splurge” on trips to Vegas?
check your privilege.
The answer we were looking for is you make an ass out of you and me
A woman isn’t considered “advanced maternal age” (aka old enough to be at risk for age-related complications) until 35. 33 for multiples. So there’s some wiggle room!
Nurse Jackie is here to hit us with some stats. Much appreciated.
Also, sup?
Easy there. My mom had me at 44… and I love pancakes!
They also have an increased risk of miscarriage and of having children with chromosomal abnormalities.
Glad someone else pointed that out. Fertility also declines sharply in the 30s, and those drugs aren’t cheap.
Current research has indicated that the fertility drop isn’t quite as bad as previously thought. The largest drop happens somewhere in your early 20’s, so you’re pretty much going to end up trying harder to conceive in any occasion that doesn’t involve you marrying your high school sweetheart right after graduation.
the drugs being expensive can cause part of the effect observed in the study. People with higher salary can afford to have kids in their late 30s, and more intelligent people tend to have higher salaries.
This is RC, we know she never looks at the facts
I feel like families that wait having more $$$ might have a bit more to do with it
I feel like this is a great example of correlation not equaling causation.
Post hoc, ergo proctor hoc!
This is what nightmares are made of