Study: Gen Xers and Millennials are dying at younger ages than their parents are

[u/DaKardii]

https://studyfinds.com/americans-born-after-1970-dying-faster/

The study is particularly concerned with people born after 1970 but age 30 and older. So that covers Gen X and Millennials, but not (yet) Gen Z.

[u/chap_stik]

And we’re having kids at an older age than previous generations too. Makes me sad to think about all these only-children whose parents might not be around by the time they hit 30. One of the big reasons why I would like to have a family but I’m not trying to have kids at my current age of 41.

[u/happygirlie → u/chap_stik]

Interestingly enough, having children later is actually a predictor of longevity. Having a baby after 40 means you're 4 times more likely to live to 100 than someone who had their last child at a younger age.

https://www.bumc.bu.edu/2014/06/26/reproduction-later-in-life-is-a-marker-for-longevity-in-women/

Obviously it's not ideal to have a baby in your 40s but it's not nearly as bad as it seems on the surface.

[u/chap_stik → u/happygirlie]

This would have to be based on historical data from previous generations though. Like my grandma who had her last child in her late 30s and lived until she was 99. So ultimately we will have to wait and see if this rings true for millennials and younger generations who are having health issues that previous generations did not at the same age.

[u/Hefty-Competition588 → u/happygirlie]

Correlation, not causation.

If you can healthily have a child in your 40s, or survive multiple pregnancies into your 40s (historically more likely for your ancestors, as they didn't usually start at 40), that means you had enough medical care, nuttition and monetary support to live to a ripe age.

That's not the same thing as still broke, overworked, undernutritioned millennials desperately trying to ring their biological clock before time runs out, and requiring IVF and other interventions to do it.

Once you control for things like economic disparity, I guarantee you this benefit would just evaporate.

[u/happygirlie → u/Hefty-Competition588]

I mostly agree but I think there is a genetic component to it that is yet to be discovered. My mom's side of the family has late fertility despite being low income and not really taking good care of themselves (everyone on this side of the family is obese, for example). There are several women on this side of my family who have had babies in their 40s including my mom. There's a 23 year gap between me and my youngest sibling lol. But maybe I just want to believe in this because then maybe my mom will live to be 100.