The reasons Millennials say, maybe later, baby

March 04-- Mar. 4--Last summer, my best friend had a baby. While I first became "Aunt Katie" almost 10 years ago, this was the first time I got to meet my "nephew" as a newborn. It was amazing how much I instantly loved that baby. In my unbiased, professional, journalistic opinion, he is the single greatest baby in the world.

What can I say? I love babies. But, like many women my age, I don't have any of my own. And I don't want any, at least not right now. I'm not alone there, either. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, as of 2016, more women over the age of 30 are having babies than women under it. The average age of a first time mom is 28.

Economic implications of a low birth rate are a big concern, and there is lots of speculation as to why Millennials aren't having children at the same rate as other generations. Do we just not want kids?

In my -- totally anecdotal -- experience, my generation wants children about as much as the ones who came before us. But, unlike other generations, getting there is taking a while.

For starters, there's college, and paying for college. Higher education -- be it a four-year degree or trade school -- has become more expensive and more necessary than ever. Say you wrap up your education or job training at 22, you're already older than the average first-time mother in 1972 (21 years old.)

Then, you find a job and start paying off that education. And you probably want to get married, which is also happening later in life -- 28 for women, 30 for men as of 2018, according to the U.S. census. Next, there's buying your first home -- average age of 32, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Even if you don't consider those things necessary for child bearing, there are plenty of other things to consider. As my husband and I get older and prepare to celebrate five years of marriage, the idea of kids becomes more appealing. Paying for them, however, does not.

That's the problem: Children are expensive and the United States isn't doing a whole lot to make affording children easier.

America is one of the few nations in the world that does not have paid maternity leave. In fact, we're the only high-income country, as classified by the World Bank, that doesn't offer paid maternity leave.

This is a big problem, especially for low-income women. It's also a big problem for the 40 percent of households where women are the primary breadwinners.

Then, there are child-care costs. In the United States, couples spend an average of 25 percent of their income on child care, versus 15 percent on average across 30 other wealthy nations.

When wages are stagnant and housing costs are high, these numbers can turn "let's have a baby" into "let's think about a baby in five years" fast.

Millennials are no longer children. We're adults, ready to have children, but society isn't ready to help us. It takes a village to raise a child. Millennials could use one.

Kate Mitchell is a copy editor and page designer at The Blade. She writes this column every other Monday to offer a Millennial perspective on life.

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