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Britain's female graduates are choosing careers over motherhood in their early graduate years, new research has suggested.

The study, published in the journal Research in Public Policy, found that around just 20 per cent of female graduates become mothers by the age of 30.

This is compared to levels of around 60 per cent in the mid-1970s.

Experts think heightened career ambitions, different lifestyle choices and a social shift are behind the drop in young graduate mothers.

The report stated: "What has driven fertility is not just that more women are now pursuing a higher level of education, but better-educated women have very different work and family trajectories than before.

"The generations that saw the biggest increases in childlessness also saw big increases in full-time employment rates, suggesting that some women were choosing careers and not families."

Recent research indicates that the average graduate in the UK currently earns between 17,000 and 25,000 a year.

However, many more female graduates are now employed in high-flying, well-paid professions than there were 30 years ago.

New city law firm recruits, for example, can expect to earn over £35,000 in their first year.

With the economy booming and house prices going through the roof, it is perhaps unsurprising that more women want to get themselves on secure financial ground before they start reproducing.

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