A fascinating new study out of Stanford University Medical Center has found that the average age of new dads is creeping up consistently, and that may be a good thing. The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, examined how the ages of first-time fathers have changed between 1972 and 2015 in the United States, and have found out that the mean parental age has increased from 27.4 to 30.9.

The findings, based on 168,000,000 births, also found that fathers who are older than 40 now make up 9 percent of first-time fathers, and nearly 1 percent of those older than 50 are first-time dads. And because people who have children at an older age tend to be more financially and emotionally stable, this could be a boon for the children themselves.

In addition, older men are more likely to live with their kids and be heavily involved in child rearing. There are risks to children with older parents, however, such as autism, chromosomal abnormalities, and certain types of cancers and genetic conditions. But the benefits may outweigh the negatives.

“A rising paternal age can affect the total number of children a man will have, which can impact the demographics of the population,” it reads. “On the flip side, he noted, older fathers are more likely to have better jobs and more resources, more likely to have reasonably stable lifestyles and more likely to live with their children and, thus, be more involved in child-rearing. … This convergent pattern appears to apply to all racial, regional, age and education categories. … Advancing parental age leaves fewer years for childbearing and is likely to exert a follow-on effect of reducing the average family size over the long haul, with potentially huge economic ramifications.”