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I think anywhere from 22-27 is ideal. But really, you should be married, have your own home and be financially secure with a decent job.
I'm 19 but would like to start a family of own within the next 3-4 years. But if I were in the case where I already had a stable job, my own home and were married, then I would have already liked to have a child by now or have one coming on the way. That's pretty much all I want now, is to be married with a family of my own.
I just had my first at 35 and I wouldn't have it any other way! My husband and I have been together for almost 10 years and we have been married for 6 1/2 years. We weren't ready before. We lived in a tiny studio apartment and we both travelled a lot for work. We bought a house a year and a half ago, I went away to do a show, and when I came back - we decided it was time! And now we have a little bundle of joy. I don't think there is any ideal age. And it's true - you never have enough money and there's never a perfect time - but I think that you both know when you are ready for the adventure to begin.
Quite a bit of the early 20's is for college and the later 20's is for getting experience and building a resume at the first place that will hire them or graduate/professional school. I find that a lot of people don't truly settle down into their permanent career until their 30's.
I think anywhere from 22-27 is ideal. But really, you should be married, have your own home and be financially secure with a decent job.
That's a pretty tall order for that age range, especially the home ownership part.
The average age of an undergraduate senior at the university I attended is 25. Even those who went right after high school and finished in 4 yrs are still going to be 23. And the majority of graduates are then going to either graduate/professional school or a stepping stone job since most of the "career" employers are not interested in hiring people straight out of college with no experience.
I think late 20's.... 28 or so.... that would be good...... people that have kids in the late teens and early 20's..... its pretty much a rubber broke situation.. if you ask me, but yet the PR spin comes into play... "Oh, no... we planned this."
..... never mind me.. I'm just in a cranky mood......
If you keep waiting for ideals you are never going to have them.
Also, to everyone saying have a good job, a house, and lots of money...we had all three when we had our child.
Within a few weeks after our son was born, my husband's boss fired him. She found out he was looking for another job and got rid of him. Simple as that. This happens every day to people.
This lead to him getting a job that paid poorly while we contemplated what to do with a mortgage of over 1,000 dollars a month (back in 1998)...
The car also died by then, and I was staying home with the baby since my husband was now in retail and had to work any shift they could give him.
We had to sell our house but it took a year. Most of the savings was gone, same for any money we made on the house sale (we had only owned the house a few years).
No we didn't go on welfare nor did we get any bail-outs from relatives. We sucked it up.
So, okay, you can 'have it all' and lose it, too.
Sometimes in life you have to just live. But be realistic. Don't have kids just to have them or have a lot of them. Besides the monetary problems, you also have to understand you can't dedicate yourself to 4, 5, 6, kids and be fair to them.
This way I have time to develop myself and be able to devote the rest of my life to my child.
It is hard to parent when you are just a child yourself. I had to in my abusive childhood home and I want better for my child.
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