this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2026
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I somehow think that even 100 years ago mothers would start having kids sooner than 25
Even assuming 20 as the average age, that makes it only 50 women per thousand years (100 ish since 1 A.D.).
And I do think 25 is a solid guess. While you could def have kids younger, you can also have them older. 25 does feel old for average age, but also, 20 feels too young for an average.
Its probs somewhere between those two, but for math, me likey round number.
People were considered adults at an earlier age prior to the industrial revolution, but surprisingly this article implies 25 is a fairly close guess. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/average-age-of-conception-throughout-human-history/151423/
makes more sense when you consider that people would generally have a handfull of kids, and you probably want to wait a few years between them to catch your breath and try to get the last one to survive past the first year.
So I was curious and checked what the average age for marriage was in ancient Greece, think 400 BCE. And.... 25 is old maid range. As soon as puberty kicked in they were married, as young as 14 - 16. At least if you trust Wikipedia. And since this isn't scholarly work, I mostly trust it.
Remember that not everyone is a direct line of first children. The average age of the mother of the birth of A child (contrary to her first child) seems to be around age 30 over most of history according to google.
Which does make sense if you consider that women would start getting children in their late teens (puberty used to start later) and end getting children in their 40s.
That's why for an average generation 30 years is usually taken.