Marriage and childbirth are one of the most important milestones of a human’s life. These are very personal decisions that depend on the circumstances of the individual concerned. However, there is a general trend since the past century of delayed marriages and the corresponding delay in having children till late thirties. A major cause of this is an increased focus on education and career by young adults. Further, this trend has an impact on a child’s mental growth and society’s demography. In this essay, the causes and effects of the trend of delayed marriages and childbirth on society will be discussed.

The major cause of delay in marriages is an increased focus of our young adults on higher education and career. On one hand, a highly educated workforce is a boon for society; on other hand, higher education is taking people to their late twenties and they are already in their early thirties when they decide to marry. Further, a desire to have a successful career takes a few more years before a couple starts to think about expanding their family. This focus on education and career is shifting the human priority from reproduction to a successful career.

The delayed birth of children has a deep impact on society. The first is the impact on a child’s mental health. Many late-born children suffer from mental health problems. The cause of these problems is their relationship with their parents. Due to the parent’s age, they are unable to participate in many activities like sports which bonds them to their children. All these activities lead to a healthy parent-child relationship and help in the proper mental growth of a child. A society where many children feel alienated with their parents and guardians is not a healthy society.

The major impact of late marriages and childbirth is on the demographics and population. This impact depends upon the society a person lives in. There are some overpopulated countries like India which have a need for population control. In these countries, having a child in the late thirties is helpful for controlling the overall population of the country. Further, people having their first child are less likely to have two or more children which in turn helps to keep a check on population. On the other side of the spectrum are rarely populated countries like Norway which needs to have high fertility in their population for a sustainable future. In these countries, having a child in the late thirties is a cause of concern for their society.

In summary, the trend of marrying late and having children in the late thirties has many advantages like more focus on education and career, reducing population growth in overpopulated countries. This trend also has significant disadvantages which include a possible negative impact on children’s mental health and population growth in less populated countries. Therefore, the impact of this trend highly depends upon the society in which an individual lives. 

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