Large families often capture the public's attention, from "The Brady Bunch" to "19 Kids and Counting." But new research from economists at the University of Houston offers strong evidence that children in larger families are more likely to fall behind in cognitive achievement and have behavioral and other problems.
The larger the families, the worse off older children did, the economists found. For every additional child introduced to a given family, the eldest sibling became more likely to have lower cognitive abilities, more behavioral issues, less education, and higher rates of criminal activity later in life.
Smaller families tend to result in higher IQ, academic achievement, and occupational performance. Large families produce more delinquents and alcoholics.
Another study confirms that parents with four or more children are the least stressed, especially when compared to parents with three kids. Those fears with the first child get less and less as you go along. Turns out, four is the magic number for less stress and more happiness.
Since having five or more kids is generally the cutoff point for being considered a “large” family, here are all the ways your parenting will change once you hit that pivotal plus-five milestone.
Family size determines what experiences and resources a child will have and receive, and those in turn influence development. They are strong influences because the experiences determined by family size are repetitious. The effects on cognition and personality are for this reason said to be overdetermined.
Want to be a happier parent? Grow your family to at least four children! According to a study out of Australia's Edith Cowan University, parents with the most life satisfaction (which means those who are the happiest) are those that have four or more children. Dr.
Four is the magic number
In a study conducted by Dr Bronwyn Harman from the Edith Cowan University in Perth, it was found that parents with four or more children are the happiest parents.
They found that one or two children made no difference to happiness, for men or women. However, this study found that three or more children negatively affected well-being. But there is more to life than just happiness. Often, the moments we truly savor are stressful.
The Benefits of Big Families
Kids with siblings have greater social skills than those without, and married people who grew up with more siblings are less likely to divorce, controlling for many background factors. One can imagine other tradeoffs as well.
Ahmed and Jose "Oying" Rimon, director of the Gates Institute, found that in families considered small (four or fewer children), the children have a life expectancy that is three years longer than the children in larger families (five or more children) even controlling for infant mortality.
Each child receives more parental attention and educational advantages, which generally raise her self-esteem. Children in small families, especially first and only children, tend to have higher school and personal achievement levels than do children of larger families.
The number of kids that feels good to you is of course totally up to personal preference, your parenting style, and a lot of other very individual factors. For our lifestyle, I just love having 4 kids around. An Australian study found that parents with 4 or more kids were the happiest.
Disadvantages of Small Family Norms
With fewer people contributing to the income, it may be more difficult to make ends meet. Additionally, there may not be enough people in the home to provide emotional support and caregiving as needed. This can be especially difficult for elderly parents or grandparents.
In fact, mothers who have three children are the most stressed out - even more so than those who have four, according to a. The study found that while transitioning from two to three children is overwhelming for parents because it means they are outnumbered, mothers tend to 'let go' once they reach four children.
According to a survey conducted by British parenting website Bounty, two girls are considered the best combination for parents to have a happy and harmonious family life. In their study, they surveyed 2,116 parents who had children aged 16 and under.
Happiness is U-shaped – it declines and bottoms out in your 40s, so report countless studies, until it starts to inch its way up again in the 50s. This is a remarkably consistent finding, across countries and cultures.
And it turns out that Brits are pretty decisive about the optimum family size with 49% of UK adults believing that two children is the perfect number for a happy life. In the YouGov survey, of 2,000 UK parents, results showed that almost half think that having two children will bring the highest level of happiness.
According to this recent study, the most stressful number of kids to have is three. From my experience, I actually found having only one the most difficult (although I was a mom to an 'only child' for a very short time).
Three or more children = wrong
Despite the growing trends mentioned above, two children still seems to the ideal number. An actual study revealed one to two children is the ideal number for “happiness”, but with two you don't have to deal with the aforementioned only child issues.
Oldest child syndrome refers to a number of characteristics people develop as an outcome of being the first-born. For instance, following the birth of another baby, the firstborn goes from being the “only child” of their parents to having to share their parent's love and attention with a younger sibling.
What is eldest daughter syndrome? Eldest daughter syndrome is the burden felt by oldest daughters because of their unique childhood experience. Extra duties are often given to the oldest girl in a family, leading to a shared 'syndrome' of being responsible but overburdened.
What Is Oldest Child Syndrome? Oldest Child Syndrome is believed by some to be evidence of common characteristics that can be attributed to birth order. These traits of first-born children include a sense of entitlement, responsibility, and ambition.