by Grace Williams

Created on: January 05, 2010   Last Updated: March 15, 2010

IS IT BETTER TO RAISE CHILDREN IN A SMALL OR LARGE FAMILY

Once upon a time, large families were needed because society was more rural and agrarian and hands were needed to work on the farm.  Also life expectancy was less than it was now.  Women had a large family to ensure that some children would live to adulthood.   Also birth control was faulty which meant if a person had sex, there was a 90% chance that pregnancy would result.

As society evolved from agrarian to urban, large families were seen as a detriment.   Extra children meant more money expenditures to feed, clothe, and educate them.  A large amount of children meant wear and tear on mothers as she had to allocate the amount of time spent on each child.  Urban society meant that large families were no longer necessary as space in urban centers were at a premium. Women started to find ways to decrease the number of children they had through effective birth control.

It is economically and psychological more feasible to raise children in a small family because more material resources are available for each child such as monies for cultural activities, higher education, and the better things of life such as plays and travel to foreign countries.  People from small families(1-2 children) are more mature, more cultured, better behaved, and more achievement oriented than people from large families.  Also people from small families are more affluent and educated from people from large families.   They are exposed to more things in life.  For example, I am an only child and was exposed to plays, dancing classes, art, travel, and operas at a very early age.  I appreciated high culture and wanted to achieve as to afford these things for myself as I got older.   I also had friends came over and my parents provided company for me during my childhood and adolescent years.

Contrast this rearing to a person who grew up in a large family, she/he is usually not exposed to the finer things in life.  She/he is usually rough around the ages, playing in the street, raising herself/himself and other siblings, being subjected to harsh punishment and being  left by parents to be on their own.  Many girls in large families have teenaged pregnancies because their parents did not give them the prerequisite attention e.g. my two aunts.  Furthermore people from large families depend upon outside people to support them e.g. my greataunt

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>