Maternal Age at First Birth and Parental Support: Evidence From the UK Millennium Cohort Study

Abstract

Using nationally representative data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 7396), we investigate whether the mother’s age at first birth is associated with the level of support she receives from her parents around the time of birth. We apply latent class analysis to construct a summary measure of five dimensions of parental support (contact with the mother, contact with the father, childcare, monetary transfers and financial support for buying essentials). The results show that parental support is negatively associated with maternal age at first birth, with older mothers being less likely than younger mothers to receive parental support. Adjustment for maternal socio-demographic characteristics and parental age partially attenuates the association. Given that parental support is positively associated with adult children’s well-being, labour force participation, and fertility the results suggest that integrating parental support into work investigating the causes and consequences of the timing of first births has the potential to enrich and expand our understanding of the costs and benefits of delaying childbearing towards older parental ages.