placestats

Age at childbearing vs. Extreme poverty rate

Holds up after adjusting for income

Across 163 countries, Age at childbearing and Extreme poverty rate rise and fall together at r = -0.18 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). Comparing only countries with similar income (GDP per person) flips the link to +0.31 (q = 0.041, allowing for the many pairs tested). The first figure pointed the other way only as richer and poorer countries differ. Caution: direction is not consistent across regions.

Comparing countries across the middle half of age at childbearing, 28.3 to 30.2 years, extreme poverty rate is better by 4.46% of population at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap reverses, to 5.85% of population the other way.

Link before adjusting (r)-0.176p = 0.025 · 163 countries
After adjusting for national income+0.310p = 5.9e-5 · likely range [+0.16, +0.44]
p, allowing for regions0.004standard error 0.067 · 7 regions
Check for luck (q)0.041across 12,497 pairs

How to read these.r runs from −1 (one goes up as the other goes down) to +1 (they rise together), and 0 means no link. Adjusting for national income means comparing countries with the same GDP per person, so differences in wealth can’t explain the link. Income is used in percentage terms, since an extra $1,000 means more to a poor country than to a rich one. p is how likely a link this strong would be if there were really none. Below 0.05 means it is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 1.1e-32 means a decimal point followed by 31 zeros and then 11, so very close to zero. The likely range is where the true figure probably lies, and a range that crosses zero means the link could easily be chance. Countries in the same region tend to resemble each other, so the third figure allows for that, which gives a fairer p. The standard error is the typical size of the error in r. Finally, testing this many pairs means some will look strong by luck alone. A q below 0.05 means this link is unlikely to be one of those.

Age at childbearing · yearslink with income +0.44 · moderate
Extreme poverty rate · % of populationlink with income -0.83 · proxy

“Link with income” is how closely each measure tracks GDP per person across countries, from −1 to +1.

Every country as a dot

Age at childbearing · years →Extreme poverty rate · % of population →25.333.40%85.3%Angola: 28.6 years, 39.3% of populationAlbania: 29.1 years, 0.3% of populationUnited Arab Emirates: 31.9 years, 0% of populationArgentina: 29.1 years, 1% of populationArmenia: 27.8 years, 0.8% of populationAustralia: 31.4 years, 0.9% of populationAustria: 31.2 years, 0.5% of populationBurundi: 30.2 years, 74.2% of populationBelgium: 31 years, 0.1% of populationBenin: 29.1 years, 27.2% of populationBurkina Faso: 29.2 years, 42.1% of populationBangladesh: 26 years, 5.9% of populationBulgaria: 27.9 years, 1% of populationBosnia and Herzegovina: 29 years, 0.3% of populationBelarus: 28.7 years, 0% of populationBelize: 27.2 years, 1% of populationBolivia: 28.1 years, 2.1% of populationBrazil: 27.8 years, 3% of populationBarbados: 27.7 years, 1.7% of populationBhutan: 29.9 years, 0% of populationBotswana: 28.7 years, 21.4% of populationCentral African Republic: 29 years, 71.6% of populationCanada: 31.4 years, 0.3% of populationSwitzerland: 32.3 years, 0.2% of populationChile: 31.2 years, 0.4% of populationChina: 29 years, 0% of populationCote d'Ivoire: 29 years, 20.8% of populationCameroon: 28.4 years, 26.7% of populationCongo, Dem. Rep.: 30.1 years, 85.3% of populationCongo, Rep.: 28.6 years, 39.2% of populationColombia: 26.6 years, 8.5% of populationComoros: 30.2 years, 5.1% of populationCabo Verde: 28.6 years, 14.6% of populationCosta Rica: 28.2 years, 0.8% of populationCyprus: 31.7 years, 0% of populationCzechia: 30.4 years, 0% of populationGermany: 31.5 years, 0.7% of populationDjibouti: 31.5 years, 25.4% of populationDenmark: 31.6 years, 0.4% of populationDominican Republic: 27.4 years, 0.8% of populationAlgeria: 31.5 years, 0% of populationEcuador: 27.4 years, 3.4% of populationEgypt, Arab Rep.: 28 years, 1.4% of populationSpain: 32.5 years, 0.8% of populationEstonia: 31 years, 0.3% of populationEthiopia: 29.1 years, 38.6% of populationFinland: 31.5 years, 0.2% of populationFiji: 28.8 years, 4.7% of populationFrance: 31.6 years, 0.1% of populationMicronesia, Fed. Sts.: 28.9 years, 26.1% of populationGabon: 28.5 years, 3.8% of populationUnited Kingdom: 30.9 years, 0.4% of populationGeorgia: 28.5 years, 4.2% of populationGhana: 29.5 years, 39% of populationGuinea: 28.3 years, 11.7% of populationGambia, The: 29.8 years, 22% of populationGuinea-Bissau: 29.5 years, 39.9% of populationEquatorial Guinea: 27 years, 8.8% of populationGreece: 32 years, 0.6% of populationGrenada: 28.6 years, 0.8% of populationGuatemala: 27.3 years, 9.7% of populationHonduras: 27.2 years, 15.7% of populationCroatia: 30.7 years, 0.3% of populationHaiti: 29.6 years, 40.4% of populationHungary: 30 years, 0.9% of populationIndonesia: 28.9 years, 4% of populationIndia: 27.5 years, 5.3% of populationIreland: 32.7 years, 0.1% of populationIran, Islamic Rep.: 28.8 years, 2.5% of populationIraq: 28.6 years, 0.5% of populationIceland: 30.8 years, 0.1% of populationIsrael: 30.9 years, 0.4% of populationItaly: 32.3 years, 0.9% of populationJamaica: 27.9 years, 1.4% of populationJordan: 29.8 years, 0.1% of populationJapan: 31.9 years, 1.2% of populationKazakhstan: 29 years, 0% of populationKenya: 28.2 years, 45.5% of populationKyrgyz Republic: 28.5 years, 2.2% of populationKiribati: 29.1 years, 0.9% of populationKorea, Rep.: 33.4 years, 0.1% of populationLao PDR: 26.3 years, 7.1% of populationLebanon: 29.2 years, 5.8% of populationLiberia: 28.3 years, 33.6% of populationSt. Lucia: 28.8 years, 0.1% of populationSri Lanka: 29.6 years, 2.7% of populationLesotho: 27.9 years, 41.9% of populationLithuania: 30.3 years, 1.1% of populationLuxembourg: 32.3 years, 0.1% of populationLatvia: 30.3 years, 0.4% of populationMorocco: 29.9 years, 3.7% of populationMoldova: 28 years, 0.1% of populationMadagascar: 27.9 years, 69.2% of populationMaldives: 30.2 years, 0% of populationMexico: 26.8 years, 1.6% of populationMarshall Islands: 27.1 years, 2.1% of populationNorth Macedonia: 29 years, 3.9% of populationMali: 28.9 years, 36.1% of populationMalta: 30.9 years, 0.4% of populationMyanmar: 28.8 years, 10.3% of populationMontenegro: 30.2 years, 2.5% of populationMongolia: 29.3 years, 0.4% of populationMozambique: 28.4 years, 81.4% of populationMauritania: 30.2 years, 10.2% of populationMauritius: 29.1 years, 0.5% of populationMalawi: 27.7 years, 75.4% of populationMalaysia: 31 years, 0% of populationNamibia: 28.9 years, 22.9% of populationNiger: 29.1 years, 60.5% of populationNigeria: 29.2 years, 41.8% of populationNicaragua: 26 years, 6.6% of populationNetherlands: 31.8 years, 0.1% of populationNorway: 31.6 years, 0.2% of populationNepal: 25.3 years, 2.4% of populationNaoero: 27.1 years, 9.7% of populationPakistan: 28.9 years, 23% of populationPanama: 27.3 years, 3.1% of populationPeru: 28.8 years, 5.1% of populationPhilippines: 29 years, 5.3% of populationPoland: 29.9 years, 0.2% of populationPortugal: 31.7 years, 0.4% of populationParaguay: 27.7 years, 2.1% of populationWest Bank and Gaza: 28.6 years, 2.1% of populationQatar: 30.4 years, 0% of populationRomania: 28.1 years, 0.7% of populationRussian Federation: 28.9 years, 0.1% of populationRwanda: 30.6 years, 38.6% of populationSudan: 29.8 years, 10.1% of populationSenegal: 29.9 years, 17.9% of populationSolomon Islands: 29.2 years, 40.3% of populationSierra Leone: 28.6 years, 41.5% of populationEl Salvador: 27.1 years, 4.6% of populationSerbia: 29.5 years, 1.1% of populationSao Tome and Principe: 28.5 years, 13% of populationSuriname: 28.4 years, 2.2% of populationSlovak Republic: 28.9 years, 0.5% of populationSlovenia: 30.4 years, 0% of populationSweden: 31.6 years, 0.8% of populationEswatini: 27.9 years, 44.5% of populationSeychelles: 27.6 years, 0.7% of populationSyrian Arab Republic: 28.8 years, 18% of populationChad: 29.2 years, 39.5% of populationTogo: 29.1 years, 34.7% of populationThailand: 28.3 years, 0% of populationTajikistan: 26.5 years, 6.1% of populationTimor-Leste: 29.4 years, 44% of populationTonga: 29.9 years, 0.4% of populationTunisia: 31.3 years, 0.7% of populationTurkiye: 29.2 years, 0.2% of populationTuvalu: 29.2 years, 9% of populationTanzania: 28.9 years, 51.3% of populationUganda: 28.3 years, 59.8% of populationUkraine: 28.1 years, 0% of populationUruguay: 29.2 years, 0.2% of populationUnited States: 29.9 years, 1.1% of populationUzbekistan: 27 years, 2.3% of populationViet Nam: 27.2 years, 1.6% of populationVanuatu: 28.1 years, 19.5% of populationSamoa: 29.3 years, 4.5% of populationKosovo: 29.7 years, 10% of populationSouth Africa: 28.3 years, 17.4% of populationZambia: 28.4 years, 71.7% of populationZimbabwe: 28.1 years, 49.2% of populationBDIBGDCODESPIRLKORMDGMOZMWINICNPL

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted-0.1760.025163
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted-0.3932.0e-7163
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income+0.3105.9e-5163
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income-0.0510.520163

The rank version uses only each country’s place in line, from lowest to highest, so a few extreme countries count for less. The adjusted and unadjusted versions use the same 163 countries: those that report both measures and GDP per person. So the gap between them comes from the adjustment, not from a change in which countries are counted. Drop in the size of r after adjusting: -0.134 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from +0.288 (without COD) to +0.337 (without SDN). The bar above shows that range on a scale from −1 to +1, with the solid line at the full result. The single country that moves r most: SDN (+0.027).

Fragile: this link may not hold up.
  • direction is not consistent across regions
  • much weaker within income groups than across them (mostly a gap between richer and poorer countries)

Within each region

Countries are not separate, unrelated cases, and neighbors share a lot. A link that holds inside each region is far more believable than one that shows up only when comparing regions.

nr
East Asia & Pacific23+0.32
Europe & Central Asia47+0.23
Latin America & Caribbean24+0.36
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan16+0.25
Sub-Saharan Africa45-0.32

By income third

If the link shows up only in the richest third of countries, it is a feature of rich countries, not a general pattern.

nr
Poorest third55+0.05
Middle third54-0.05
Richest third54-0.17

By largest religious group

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
Christians103+0.41
Muslims40+0.17

By last european coloniser

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
France24-0.14
Never a European colony16+0.71
Spain20-0.04
United Kingdom48-0.00

Without outliers (countries far outside the middle half of countries on either measure, by more than one and a half times the width of that middle half): r = +0.330 after dropping 14 countries.

Two series, one country

Both measures over the years for one country you pick. The two charts are stacked so they share only the years along the bottom.

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Over time, within countries

Everything above compares countries with each other at one moment. This section compares each country only with itself over 34years. So a link here can’t come from anything about a country that stays the same, such as its history, geography, institutions or culture.

The link shows up within countries over time (r = +0.348) but mostly disappears in year-to-year changes (r = +0.061). That points to slow trends particular to each country, not the two measures moving together from year to year.

Across countries (adjusted)+0.310for comparison
Within countries-0.130each country vs itself
…and vs the same year elsewhere+0.348q = 0.000 · 120 countries
Year-on-year changes+0.061q = 0.135
Read with care.
  • The association is much weaker in year-on-year changes than in levels, which points to shared country-specific trends.

2,083 country-years (one country in one year), 120 countries, 1990–2023, about 17 years each on average. Share of the variation that happens within countries over time: 24% for Age at childbearing, 20% for Extreme poverty rate. The margins of error allow for each country appearing many times, and for each year’s value being close to the year before.

Year-to-year changes are a cautious test, not a final answer. Looking only at changes from one year to the next removes each country’s own trends. But it also makes measurement mistakes louder, which pulls the results toward zero. A near-zero result here is weak evidence of no link, not proof.

With one measure years behind the other

0.40−0.4-100+10years Extreme poverty rate trails Age at childbearing →lag -10: r = 0.285 (n = 1,268)lag -9: r = 0.311 (n = 1,352)lag -8: r = 0.308 (n = 1,442)lag -7: r = 0.322 (n = 1,527)lag -6: r = 0.317 (n = 1,596)lag -5: r = 0.350 (n = 1,693)lag -4: r = 0.345 (n = 1,773)lag -3: r = 0.338 (n = 1,849)lag -2: r = 0.355 (n = 1,944)lag -1: r = 0.344 (n = 2,024)lag +0: r = 0.348 (n = 2,083)lag +1: r = 0.355 (n = 2,080)lag +2: r = 0.339 (n = 2,053)lag +3: r = 0.333 (n = 2,011)lag +4: r = 0.330 (n = 1,969)lag +5: r = 0.324 (n = 1,936)lag +6: r = 0.319 (n = 1,892)lag +7: r = 0.339 (n = 1,838)lag +8: r = 0.350 (n = 1,795)lag +9: r = 0.373 (n = 1,736)lag +10: r = 0.383 (n = 1,686)

Same year (lag 0): +0.348. A peak away from zero does not show which comes first. These series change slowly — this year’s value is close to last year’s. That makes the curve smooth and nearly symmetric, whatever produced the data. Even a sharp peak at one lag (a gap of some years) would not prove that one measure changes the other.

This curve peaks at the edge of the window (lag +10), so it is still drifting where the search stops. That pattern usually reflects a slow trend left over in the data, not a link with real timing. The peak value should not be read as the “true” link at the right lag.

The data


years
% of population		Years
Korea, Rep. KOR33.40.1%2023, 2021
Ireland IRL32.70.1%2023
Spain ESP32.50.8%2023
Luxembourg LUX32.30.1%2023
Italy ITA32.30.9%2023
Switzerland CHE32.30.2%2023, 2022
Greece GRC320.6%2023
Japan JPN31.91.2%2023, 2020
United Arab Emirates ARE31.90%2023, 2018
Netherlands NLD31.80.1%2023, 2021
Portugal PRT31.70.4%2023
Cyprus CYP31.70%2023
Denmark DNK31.60.4%2023
France FRA31.60.1%2023
Sweden SWE31.60.8%2023

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division: World Population Prospects 2024 and Estimates and Projections of Women of Reproductive Age Who Are Married or in a Union
World Bank, World Development Indicators

Sources

Age at childbearing

Mean age of mothers at childbearing

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division · via Our World in Data · CC BY 3.0 IGO · updated biennial

The average age of women giving birth in the year, based on how many births women of each age have. Later childbearing goes with fewer births, but not one for one. A country can have late but plentiful births, or early but few. No "better" direction is set.

Extreme poverty rate

Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)

World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2010–2025. To adjust for income, each measure is first predicted from GDP per person (in percentage terms, on a log scale) with a straight-line fit. Only what is left over is then compared. This is called a partial correlation. The line is drawn the standard way (ordinary least squares), which picks the line that comes closest to all the countries at once. The error margins allow for countries in the same region resembling each other, using 7 World Bank regions. The q-value corrects for testing all 12,497 pairs at once, using the Benjamini–Hochberg method. Underlying data last updated DYB 2024. How the country data works · explore Age at childbearing and Extreme poverty rate

This page shows that two measures go together. It does not show that Age at childbearing changes Extreme poverty rate, or the reverse. These figures also describe countries, not individual people. See the ecological fallacy.

More links with Age at childbearing or Extreme poverty rate