A gradual increase in the age of fathers of newborn babies has been confirmed in new figures out on Thursday.
Statistics New Zealand has released the latest information in advance of Father's Day, on Sunday.
The average age of fathers of new babies is now 33 - five years older than their own fathers were when they were born.
The figures show one in 100 babies have a father aged 50 or over.
Statistics New Zealand says the average age of mothers of new-borns is 30. That is four years older than in 1962 when the first figures were available.
Fathers who feel they get less sleep than other men are probably right, as the figures show those with children under one year old get 42 minutes less sleep a night than the 8½ hours average.
