Uhmm....since when did people start describing women in their early to mid thirties as "young mothers?"

New York is a different, very disassociated world.

it seems pretty young to me.

"young mother" is like 20 years old. 32, that's normal, not young.

I agree. My mom had her 5th child when she was 34. I was 12 at the time and a bit embarrassed at how old a mom she was. Old moms shouldn't go around being, you know, PREGNANT! I had my one and only at 23. 32 is a relatively young person, I guess, being less than halfway to death, but not a particularly young mother.

So "young" and "normal" are mutually exclusive?

It depends which circles you move in. Down here in Georgia, a lot of people (dental hygienists, nurses, people in shops) look at me funny when they find out I'm 30 and married but don't have children yet. But among the people we know well, we're unusual because we're married. Only one couple we know has children. Everybody here is studying, trying to pay off student debt, or just wanting to enjoy a few years of marriage before having kids (that's our reasoning, aside from the fact that the financial strain terrifies us!). I imagine in expensive places like NYC, people are putting off having children for longer and longer because even on a pretty good salary, they're often scrambling to get by.

I'd love to live in a parallel universe where 32 is young for a mother. At 26, it would be unspeakable for me to consider parenthood, and my in-laws would quit bothering me about grandchildren.

Sure, it's a different era, but my mother had four kids by the time she was 25, and three more by the time she was 42. A long generation later, my sister had her first when she was 18. I, however, had my first kid when I was 37. So my family is full of weird generational relationships: I first became Uncle Donnie when I was 7, and my son has a first cousin once-removed from the generation after his who happens to be nearly 5 years older than him.

Anyway. A self-described "young mother" who's 32... well, for once I'll be gracious and say that she's not a particularly old mother.

The average age for first childbirth in the US is 25. So no, I wouldn't call a 32 year old a young mother.

I think it's just an easier way to say "a mother of young children," which is kind of wordy. Though, as someone who became a mother at 36 going on 37, I tend to view all moms who started younger than me as terribly young.