With the recession, it has become more difficult to obtain permanent employment, with companies much more likely to offer temporary contracts. Now a new study has found that women working in temporary jobs are less likely to have had their first child by the time they are 35.

The results were irrespective of the socioeconomic status of the women.

Australian researchers analysed data collected from over 660 women born between 1973 and 1975. The women were interviewed between 2007 and 2009 when they were aged between 32 and 35. They were asked about significant life events that had occurred since the age of 15, such as relationships, employment and childbirth.

At the time of these interviews, two in three of the women had at least one child.

The researchers found that the likelihood of a woman having a baby by the age of 35 reduced every year that she was in casual employment. In fact, just one year in a temporary job was linked with an 8% reduction in the likelihood of a woman having her first baby by this age compared to a woman who had no temporary jobs.

After three years in casual employment, the likelihood of a first baby by the age of 35 fell by 23% and after five years, it fell even further, to 35%.

"Our findings suggest that, regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances, women generally aspire to economic security prior to starting a family. This finding is important because it challenges the pervasive media representations of delayed childbirth as a phenomenon arising from highly educated women choosing to delay motherhood to focus on their careers," the researchers from the University of Adelaide said.

They added that parents are often offered financial and other support after they have children, however, ‘there remains a need to develop complementary policies to facilitate the ability of couples to commit to family formation'.

Details of these findings are published in the European journal, Human Reproduction.

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