More Dutch babies born to older fathers

An increasing number of babies in the Netherlands are born to older fathers, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands. Last year 2.5 thousand babies were born to fathers over the age of 50.

Last year a total of 170.5 thousand babies were born in the Netherlands. 16 percent of them have a father that is 40 years old or older, compared to 10 percent 20 years ago.

The average age of men who became fathers in 2015 was 34.1 years old. The average age for first time fathers was 32.5 years, one year older than 20 years ago. Fathers are on average three years older than mothers.

Last year the average age for first time mothers was 29.6 years. The average age of all women who had babies last year was 31.1 years.