Looking back at past family pictures which are developed with a little tinge of yellowish in color or either in black and white and kept in old, nostalgic photo albums you will realize something in common is the number of family members. Most families at that time were usually large with say ranging from six to ten siblings or even more. It is rather a norm during those earlier times for families to consist of many members and all living under one roof.
However, this scene is no longer common during these modern days. As you walk into a shopping mall, playground or park, the most common view would be a family consisting of the parents and two children. There are still families with three to four children but the current trend is moving to one to two children instead.
Now coming to the gist of this topic, what are really the root causes of why families are shrinking in number i.e. becoming smaller nowadays.
Finances, Quality of Life
Marrying and then making a crucial decision in life to have children is not just a stroll in a park . It takes a lot of courage and commitment between two independent individuals to decide on building a family during the modern, competitive world. As the standard of living increases every year based on research, it is common for people to consider only limiting themselves to having one or two kids in a family.
Many also have a mindset to provide the best of the best to their kids. Knowing that the standard of living cost is always at an increasing trend, people will then focus on the quality rather than quantity. For example, with only one or two kids, parents will be able to pool their resources in terms of finances to be able to provide better living conditions, education and other opportunities available. With more children in tow, parents need to ensure they allocate all their funds appropriately so that their children are fully covered.
Working Parents
It is a common scene that you can see whereby daycare centers and nurseries are mushrooming at every corner of any housing community. No doubt that it is not easy shouldering the commitments of a family and thus, with both parents working ensuring two inflows of finances into one family definitely ease the pressure within the same household.
Looking at the current phenomenon nowadays, most parents of a household are both working and thus will require and rely on external help in terms of taking care of the younger children. That is where either grandparents will assist with the daycare of the kids or engaging daycare or nursery services.
Time
The famous quote goes by “Time Waits for No Man”. This is indeed true and in such a competitive and ever changing world, every individual is chasing for time to ensure all time is being utilized as effectively as possible. That is also one of the factors that indirectly causes families nowadays to shrink in number.
Time is being utilized for purposes such as work, some ME time and family too. In order to allocate sufficient time to fulfill these needs, with fewer kids, parents are able to spend quality time together bonding. This will also result in parents being more involved and able to understand better if their kids are facing any hiccups along their journey of life. Having proper care, guidance and love for parents will shape a better future generation.
Infertility
Being pampered with the advancement in technology and many other modern creations, there is always a price to pay when Mother Nature is being overly utilized by humankind. With lots of industrial activities going on which emits radiation and say even the food we consume may already be tampered genetically in order to cater to the needs of the people on Earth i.e. Demand is more than Supply, this indirectly leads to fertility issues in many individuals nowadays.
According to the research conducted recently, infertility issues are on a rise and this happens to both the male and also the female. With this crisis on an increasing trend, it is a common scenario that we can all see when it comes to the real struggle of conceiving children. This as a matter of fact too contributed to the reducing number of children in a family.
Priorities in Life
Who wouldn’t want to own a house, a car and many other luxuries in life at your peak age of the twenties and thirties. When you have dreams and goals, you will push yourself to exceed your limits to achieve what you set and desire. In the cruel reality of life, to gain something you will end up sacrificing another. In this case, it would be your own health.
Having ended up working so hard and pushing yourselves harder each day in order to strive for the best in life, this effort in turn may prove detrimental to your own health. Many couples these days delay the time to settle down and get married in order to earn more money for a better living. This is not wrong however, one’s body clock is ticking away and as most people are aware of, conceiving for a child at a later stage of life is proven to be riskier and the chances of a successful attempt is also getting lesser.
Available Alternatives
In this modern day of life, the world has welcomed many different ways of life for example now many countries have already legalize gay/lesbian marriages proving that society has evolve and are on the acceptance stage. With such an open mindset, many couples nowadays have even promised one another that their marriage will only consist of themselves without any children needed. Some even adopt pets as a substitute for having children.
Having pets is a popular and ongoing trend whereby they treat their pets like children, caring for them, nurturing them and providing them the best they can afford. Looking at this scenario, in this period of time, nothing is impossible.
Coming to the end of this thoughtful topic, all I could say is that it is very much true that family sizes are shrinking especially for those living in competitive cities where time is of the essence and living costs are rising every now and then. It is indeed a cruel fact but humans will adapt and change for survival. Nevertheless, this may not necessarily be viewed negatively but you can always look at the other side of the coin i.e. striving for quality rather than quantity.
