Small or big families

There is an increasing trend around the world to have a small family rather than a large family. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of having a small family rather than a large family?

Over the past decades birth rates have steadily declined. Consequently, the says of nuclear families have diminish all over the world. This easy I will discuss the advantages and shortcomings of smaller family sizes.

As small family can benefit children and parents and make it easier to find sufficient resources for a family. Children can enjoy their parents full attention instead of sharing it with multiple siblings. Additionally, a family with less children, sibling rivalry is less likely to be a problem among children. Parents can spend more time with the individual child and the child‘s favourite activities. Caring for a large family can be stressful mad exhausting. Parents of a small family should therefore be more relaxed and patient. Lastly, fewer children mean the family budget is more likely to leave room for some extras, like holidays or separate bedrooms for each child.

On the other hand, there are also some downsides for all family members of a small family. Children can end become spoilt and less responsible than their peer growing in large families. Being an only child is often associated with egoism and less developed social skills. Parents will focus all their expectations on fewer children. This will heighten pressure to succeed on the individual child. Moreover, it might be simpler for parents to raise multiple children as siblings learn from each other and play together. In a large family every member can contribute is domestic duties are shared. Also, some common family activities, such as outdoor games, are probably more fun with a larger family.

All in all, there are positive and negative aspects of having a smaller family. As family sizes are decreasing most people to believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages significantly.

A tendency among city dwellers to live alone or in small units instead of extended families is rising steadily these days. Some people are of the opinion that this trend is problematic. However, I would contend that this new lifestyle, in a way, offers many benefits to modern citizens for several reasons.

To begin with, a major advantage of elementary family is that it puts less pressure on individuals. Admittedly, fewer family members means less household expenditure while in extended families, breadwinners are usually overwhelmed and stressed as they have to take care of a number of non-working members. In other words, financial burden is the main problem of complex families which are quite common in rural areas. Perhaps this is the reason why living standards in big cities are generally higher than that of countryside. Besides, this lifestyle also gives parents more time to raise their children better. For instance, parents can talk to their kids about studying and help them overcome difficulties they may encounter at school.

Additionally, living alone is believed to give one a sense of freedom. It is true that young adults are often under parents’ supervision and cannot make a decision on their own, causing misunderstandings between the two generations. More specifically, people may find themselves at crossroads whether to follow family’s tradition or make a change when it comes to career orientation. Furthermore, this emergent trend is also a good way to avoid friction among family members which are becoming more popular at present. The fact that teenagers prefer eating fast food and listening to uptempo songs while older people appreciate traditional values could be taken as an example of this.

To sum up, I firmly hold the view that living alone or in small family units are advantageous and will be prevalent, at least in the foreseeable future because of those aforementioned arguments.