According to the ONS report published yesterday,
abortion rates in women over 40 are starting to decline as it seems
fewer women in this age group consider pregnancy as a ‘mistake’ and many
want to start a family. On the other hand, abortion rates are
increasing in younger women probably due to the fact this age group are
typically seeking higher education and to get their careers moving
along.
It is records of
conceptions in 2011 in England and Wales that show a large majority of
women who conceive over the age of 40 are not choosing to abort, with
conception rates in the over 40s actually increasing 3.7% in a year –
doubling in the past two decades.
However, statistics show that for among women aged
25 to 39, the abortion rate has gone up by nearly 4% between 2010 and
2011 and for those in their 30s and married it has been on the increase
for two consecutive years.
Back in 1990 there were a total of 12,032
women over 40 years of age who fell pregnant. Eleven years later the
figure stood at 28,747. In 2011 around a quarter of those women chose an
abortion, a decade prior and the proportion was nearly 35%, whilst 20
years ago it was almost 42%.
The ONS report stated: “Reasons for an
increased number of women aged 40 and over conceiving include increased
participation in higher education; delayed marriage and partnership
formation; the desire to establish a career, get on the housing ladder
and ensure financial stability before starting a family.”, adding there
was ‘a shift in aspirations of young women towards education’.
Women seem to embrace motherhood between the
ages of 30 and 34 as merely 12.8% of pregnant women decided to go for
abortions in 2011.
Other figures show there appears to be more women
under the age of 30 who now choose to delay getting married and many
women decide they cannot afford to raise a child. Approximately 27.7% of women in the age group 20 to 24 years ended their pregnancies in abortion. Almost
half of girls aged under 18 had an abortion, whereas around six out of
ten pregnancies in girls aged under 16 end with an abortion.
In fact, according to the ONS report, pregnancy
rates in girls under 18 dropped to its lowest level since 1969 when
equivalent records were first started. The number of pregnancies in the
under 18s has come down by 10% over a year, now totalling 31,000 across
England and Wales – suggesting more use of contraception. In addition, pregnancies among the under 16s also decreased by 10% to under 6,000.
Reflecting on the figures, a spokeswoman for the
abortion provider BPAS said: “Women take motherhood extremely seriously
and are increasingly waiting until they feel emotionally and financially
secure enough to have a child. Contraception is never 100 per cent
effective and at BPAS we frequently see women in long-term relationships
trying to avoid pregnancy in their more fertile twenties and early
thirties, which can result in unplanned pregnancy.”
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