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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life

Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life.

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More or Less: How Long Can you Wait Until you Try to Have a Baby?

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27/10/2013

How Long Can you Wait Until you Try to Have a Baby?

BBC World Service - More or Less, How Long Can you Wait Until you Try to Have a Baby?

Why 300-year-old fertility statistics are still in use today

Tim Harford asks why 300-year-old fertility statistics are still in use today, and sees that women in their late 30s who want to get pregnant have better odds than they may think.

How long can you wait until you try to have a baby? Psychologist Jean Twenge argues that women in their late 30s shouldn't be as anxious about their prospects as is commonly assumed. The author of The Impatient Woman’s Guide to Getting Pregnant has been amazed to discover that key fertility statistics come from studies based on people who lived several hundred years ago - before electricity was even invented. Tim Harford and Hannah Barnes find fertility experts agree that the modern woman's prospects are better than is often thought.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ruth Alexander

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