Are parents in France now delaying the birth of a next child longer?

No. Although the age at which women have their first child has been rising in France for nearly half a century (in 1977 it was 26.5; in 2023, 29.1), this fertility timing in first child timing is not observed for later births. Once the first child is there, couples do not delay the arrival of the next one(s). 

Currently, the average time between the births of first and second child is 4.2 years; in 2013 this birth interval was 4.1 years. For women having a third child in 2023, that event occurred an average of 4.8 years after the preceding one—0.3 years later than for women having a third child in 2013.

These figures in turn indicate that the rise in mother’s age upon the births of second and third children is due to the rise in her age at birth of first child and only marginally to an increased delay between childbirths.

Source : Jeanne Pointet, A first child at 29.1 in 2023: an age still rising, Insee Focus, numéro 356, juillet 2025

En savoir plus : Didier Breton, Nicolas Belliot, Magali Barbieri, et al., Recent Demographic Trends in France 2024, Population, 2024/4