Girls should forget university and have babies instead !

To be fair to Kirsty , that was only a small part of the article.

A lot of it was about the pain of losing her mother last January, and about how things surrounding the aftermath of a death could be done differently.

She didn't advise girls not to go to university. She just suggested, because of declining fertility after the age of 35, it might be better to have children first and then concentrate on a career and/or education.
She had seen a lot of her friends suffering heartache because of the difficulty of conceiving in their thirties, and thought that there's a lot of pressure on girls to go to university, establish a career, find a partner and have children before the biological clock stops ticking.

Obviously the same advice wouldn't be given to men, as they are fertile for much longer.

www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/10868367/Kirstie-Allsopp-I-dont-want-the-next-generation-of-women-to-suffer-the-same-heartache.html

This is the original article in the Telegraph.
As usual the Daioy Wail have put their own bigoted biased slant on it.

It sounds like she's got a mish-mash of ideas, just like everyone has. Was it worth writing it down? I suppose she got paid, and it gives people something to read.

The Honourable Kirstie Mary Allsop has had a somewhat privileged life, entree to high end suppliers via her mother's company and lots of connections made at public school.

While she seems a perfectly pleasant person on the television, I don't think her cv indicates any experience in anything other than arranging expensive or pretty objects and recounting a few anecdotal stories about her friends.

Can't really understand why she's being given so many column inches - unless it's all part of a conspiracy by certain newspapers to discourage women from achievement outside the home.

Lots of minor celebrities are given column inches to air their not-very-well-thought out views, like Richard and Judy on whether they should have the right to kill each other.

Very true, Jane. But I only get to see the ones that someone's pointed out on here.

She has though put her connections to good use instead of relying on the bank of mum and dad as a lot of these 'gels' do

I don't know what her CV contains but she is maybe one of those girls who has managed to forge a career despite not having the coveted degree that others appear to think is the only way to get on in life.

I thought male fertility declined with age too, though not with the cutoff point that females have. I also read somewhere that in the developed world at least average the sperm count is going down.

I don't think there need be anything obvious about not giving such 'advice' to young men if (and the if is a big word) it is thought necessary to give it to women. It's not as if women who are intelligent enough to go to university couldn't work out for themselves, if they thought about it, that having kids in their twenties or early thirties might be a good idea if they want them at all. If they don't think about it, I can't say I have much sympathy when their declining fertility whacks them in the eye, so to speak. It's not as if the problem is never talked about so they can't have any idea.

Hmm, I see that the article says that women are "let down" by lack of discussion of the subject of falling female fertility with age. Really? How come I knew then? I bet most gransnetters knew too.

What needs to be discussed anyway? Surely the knowledge that fertility declines with age is just a plain fact that can be imparted to young people?

Tcha. Such silliness tries my patience.

She's quoted in the Telegraph as saying: 'I don’t want the next generation of women to suffer the same heartache’

"the next generation of women"!!??

For pity's sake!! It hasn't affected an entire generation! I doubt if it ever will.

Ye gods! The things people do for money.

She was a posh estate agent (and being born into the gentry probably helped that business) This was why she got into making property TV programmes.
Girls need to make sure they can at least keep a roof over their own heads and food in the fridge if the man they choose at a young age disappears over the horizon. And lets face it, with the divorce rate as it is, that is not unlikely.
She is an extremely good self-publicist and not the sweet creature she would have us believe.

My daughter went to uni and then to another to get a second degree, she is now working in a minimum wage job and lives with her partner and has my DGD. As she is now tied to the job because it fits well with childcare (me and the other gran),she probably will never get a high flying career, however she says she loves her job and being a mum so I cant ask for more than that.

I mean to add that I really love Kirsty and watch lots of her shows but she is upper class and that must have an effect on her attitudes, Im glad my daughter went to uni as you cant take away the experience of being a student and I always think that a mother who is past being a teenager is more settled and patient

It's not unrealistic for women to have children in their early twenties (you don't need a degree for that) and then pursue a successful career. I did it and so did both my daughters as neither of them wished to go to uni.

DD1 had various part-time jobs when her boys were small and then took advantage of training in the workplace to get the necessary qualifications for a Health and Safety consultant in agriculture.

DD2 did an open university degree in Eng Lit and is now a primary school deputy head.

They have good careers, children who benefited from mum being at home when they were small and no uni loans to pay back.

I think Kirsty has a point.

Some posts seem to say that the choice is either have babies as teenagers- or in late 30s. I tried to say that there is another choice, for those who want to go to Uni, and have chidlren afterwards- still in 20s.

For me, it was different. I was not able to go to Uni before children (not being fluent in the language, being crippled in a accident then having 2 childre)- but I made it at a later stage. When youngest started school, I started uni- then 'climbed' the professional ladder much quicker as if I had been younger. Uni is definitely NOT for all, and perhaps it is wrong to intimate that it is. Horses for courses. But it is true that many who live having children till late 30s and 40s have to go through the heartache of loss of fertility, etc, and even take the risk of more problems with either pregnancy, their own health of the childrens'. One thing for sure, there is no 'one fits all' solution.

Silverfish do not give up hope. I stopped work when my children were born, one didn't have a choice in 1971, 7 years later I went back to work into poorly paid part time in jobs that fitted in with my children rather than my career.

At 40, with both children in secondary school, I picked up my career again and did very well.

Kirsty's on Newsnight later tonight defending her opinions - should be interesting!

Someone who has had an expensive education and who comes from a relatively wealthy background may feel quite relaxed about her ability to obtain a good job and maintain a reasonable standard of living. I feel it is unwise of KA to give advice to young women who do not have the sort of safety net that she has had. As JessM said, divorce is commonplace these days, and women need the security of a good education and skills if they are not to run the risk of ending up, exhausted and demoralised, in poorly paid jobs.

There is an issue about women having children later in life and it's not something that's easily resolved. I think, though, that the continual emphasis on the role of women as childbearers rather than on the importance of men as well as women being responsible for their children's welfare only serves to perpetuate inequality. My own feeling is that there needs to be more flexibility in how we view work (including working within the family as a carer), family life and education.

I've just watched Kirstie on Newsnight and I think she put her point across very well.

Yes, merlot, she put her case, but she didn't convince me.

Amazing how perceptions change - I was labelled an 'elderly prima gravida' when my DD was born. I was 28. When she went to primary school I was definitely the oldest Mum waiting at the school gate. I had done the Uni bit and been married for 4 years before starting a family. We certainly got married a lot younger then! Personally I don't see why the options need to be incompatible. KA wouldn't have got where she is without some decent qualifications.

eloethan, well said.

Good post Eloethan

Interesting thread title. What about all those young women who left school at 16 and would not be going to uni anyway?

Surely there must be a few!