Map(s) of the Week: Childbirth, week 1

TARA WALTON/TORONTO STAR

Map: Average age of mother, 2007

Map: Average age of father/other parent, 2007

Map: Parental age difference, 2007

This week begins a four-part series on childbirth in the GTA. (It will be followed by a shorter series on death.)

The information comes from data I bought from the Office of the Registrar-General, which was taken from the Statement of Live Birth form (.pdf) which is filled out when a child is born in Ontario. 

All the maps are based on the first three characters of the postal code of the mother, and show data from 2007, the most recent year available.

This week's maps look at parental age at birth: average age of mother, average age of father/other parent, and the average age difference.

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First, the average age of mothers (map).These are not necessarily first births, just births occurring in 2007.

The map itself shows a striking pattern, with high maternal ages in a belt between Yonge and Leslie south of the 401, and low maternal ages in another belt to the west roughly between Keele and Weston Road and northwest into Rexdale. In Peel, maternal ages are higher along the Mississauga waterfront, lower away from the lakeshore, and lower still in Brampton.

Here are the top ten neighbourhoods for average maternal age:

M8X	The Kingsway	35.19
M4G	Leaside	34.54
M4N	Lawrence Park	34.29
M4V	Casa Loma/southern Forest Hill	34.29
M4T	Moore Park	34.22
M3B	Bridle Path/Don Mills	34.09
M4R	Lytton Park	34.05
M4W	Rosedale	34.03
M2P	York Ridge/St. Andrew’s	34.02
L6J	Southeast Oakville	33.81

and the lowest 10:

M9M	Weston	29.1
L4T	Malton	29.07
M3N	Jane-Finch	29.06
L6W	South-central Brampton	29.01
M6M	Keelesdale/Mount Dennis	28.95
L6T	Bramalea	28.92
L0E	Georgina Township/Sutton	28.84
L1G	North-central Oshawa	28.44
L1H	Southeastern Oshawa	27.74
L1J	Southwestern Oshawa	27.65

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The average age of father/other parent map shows a strikingly similar pattern.

Eight out of the top ten areas for father/other parent age are also on the table we just saw, with M8X (The Kingsway) topping both lists. The same three Oshawa neighbourhoods are on the bottom of both lists, in the same order:

M8X	The Kingsway	38.08
M3B	Bridle Path/Don Mills	37.13
M4W	Rosedale	36.87
M2P	York Ridge/St. Andrew’s	36.68
M4N	Lawrence Park	36.68
L0J	Kleinburg	36.6
M4T	Moore Park	36.59
L6J	Southeast Oakville	36.44
M4V	Casa Loma/southern Forest Hill	36.43
M6R	High Park/Roncesvalles	36.37

Here are the lowest 10:

L1K	Northeastern Oshawa	32.24
M3K	East Downsview	32.03
L1E	Courtice	32.01
L4P	Georgina Township/Keswick	31.74
L0E	Georgina Township/Sutton	31.5
L1C	Bowmanville	31.32
M5H	North of downtown financial district	31
L1G	North-central Oshawa	30.79
L1H	Southeastern Oshawa	30.61
L1J	Southwestern Oshawa	30.49

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The map of parental age difference does show a pattern, in that there is a cluster of low age difference in the north-central part of the city, and high age differences concentrated in the northwest, the east downtown and Thorncliffe Park, and much of Scarborough. The 905 is more uniform.

In all 194 GTA postal areas, the average age of the father was higher than the average age of the mother.

Here are the highest 10:

M4H	Thorncliffe Park	5.97
M3N	Jane-Finch	4.95
M9R	Willowridge/The Westway/Richview (E of 401/427)	4.91
M1L	Oakridge/Clairlea (southeast Scarborough)	4.9
L5K	Mississauga, Dundas and Winston Churchill	4.87
M1G	Golfdale Gardens (Golf Club Rd/Lawrence)	4.77
M6M	Keelesdale/Mount Dennis	4.71
M1P	Scarborough Town Centre	4.67
M4X	St. Jamestown	4.65
M3J	Keele/Finch	4.64

and the lowest 10:

L1C	Bowmanville	2.02
L1K	Northeastern Oshawa	1.98
L7P	Northwest Burlington	1.96
M3K	East Downsview	1.95
M4R	Lytton Park	1.86
L1Y	North Pickering	1.82
M4G	Leaside	1.75
L0P	Campbellville and area	1.64
L1M	Rural north Whitby	1.58
M5H	North of downtown financial district	0.91