Why are people having less kids now then decades ago?

Question

Why is it that decades ago is was very common for people to have 10 to 15 to as much as 20 kids. Now most people are having 1 or 2 or 3

kids rarely over 5. Why is this happening. Why are people having less kids then in the past?

Answer 1

cost?

But i do have 4 - soon to be 5!

Faith Marie (5)

Hope Skye (4)

Destiny Louise (3)

Trinity Jayde (2)

Baby -

Melody Grace

or

Harmony Grace/Rose

(27 wkks)

x

Answer 2

One word MONEY.  there was no such thing as having to pay for gas to take them to soccer practice ballet etc, or even school. On top kids are spoiled nowadays. Now they can't live without a cellphone, playstation, etc.  My mom gwas the last child out of 18 but she grew up in a farm. so they pretty much used their kids as workers too lol. They were always outside doing something they weren't always inside bothering the mom. There weren't as many problems either. some peoiple don't want there kids growing up in a world like this. that's jsut to list a few

Answer 3

In the past it was believed that you HAD to have many kids because it was right

Now we have choices and our own beliefs to follwo

Its harder to care for them now, with all the prices and such

Before they had to deal with getting enough seeds to plant to make enough food

Now we have to work hours and hours just to make SOME money.

Answer 4

Because the world is overpopulated. And even worse, they can't afford them. You should only reproduce to replace yourself, having more than 1 or 2 kids is irresponsible.

Answer 5

Life is very different than it was a decade or more ago.  Think about it, birth control was still fairly new, many religions banning it and women in the work force or with degree's were less common too.  Then you have economic growth, things cost more than it used to.  If you ask your grandparents how much gas was, they would say a quarter a gallon, candy was a penny... those days are no more and people take it from somebody raising four children it's tough and expensive.  To make sure you bring a child into this world with a fair chance to have all it's needs met, you have to put into account whether you can support such a child, and with each child you have you weigh it out each time.

Answer 6

A lot of reasons.

Birth control, abortions, both of the parents having to work because it sucks to live in the 2000's. And money.

Answer 7

Birth control works now............and people feel like they are always to young to have children and when they do decide to have children, they are to old to conceive...........blame it all on birth control and abortion.

also,  decades ago......the women stayed in the homes and the men worked.  but now, the women feel like they are too busy to handle a lot of children because they are so busy working.

Also,  the financial state of people is a big factor.  It costs money to have a lot of children and most people just don't have financial stability......enough to take care of that many children.

Answer 8

Because the amount to raise them has increased!  Have you noticed gas prices and food, etc.?  Everything is higher and it gets harder to have more kids b/c the economy is rising.  I only have 2 and I would have to say it is very hard, money wise.  I am staying home with them until they go to school, b/c we cannot afford for me to go to work and pay for childcare.  Everything is expensive now days, compared to "back then."

Answer 9

Kids back then were used as an extra means of family income. Now (atleast in the UK) you can't work till 16 so kids become very expensive.

Answer 10

People have become more aware now that kids can be a pain in the a** (j/k).  In order to provide a better future for their kids it's better to have fewer than they used to before.

It's that and mainly people's livestyles.  People are greedier now but also can't afford to live off one person's income so if both parents are working it's difficult for them to raise a few kids.

Answer 11

Money is one issue, yes. But so is education. People who have much education often end up having children late into their adulthood, which limits the amount of kids you can have. Furthermore, the better the living conditions, the better the chance of survival. Parents had many children to ensure that some of them reached adulthood to take care of them once they get old. Better medical treatments and birthing facilities/methods also meant higher survival rates and therefore less children.

Finally, social programs are becoming a lot better (well, kind of)...so many adults do not see a need to have children, as society will care for them anyway. It's flawed thinking, but whatever.

Answer 12

First off, it depends on the culture. My fiance's family, for example, had eight kids and he is only 22. AND he wants just as many... although I've somewhat changed his mind when showing the figures. Fact is, it is just too dang expensive to have a litter of children nowadays. Furthermore, people are having children later in life b/c they want to be able to live their lives to the fullest (such as traveling) and collect all the little niceties and other material possessions before having the children - something that will be hard to do once Jr. arrives.

Answer 13

probably stuff cost a lot more. people use to grow there own food but now everyone goes to the grocery store, and it is really expensive. and most moms work these days, back then pretty much all of them stayed home. and moms would make their kids clothes or buy them cheap but now kids are all about designer clothes and are a lot more spoiled.

Answer 14

It's too expensive to have many kids in this day and age. Also, most mothers are in the working world and don't want to be a stay at home baby making machine

Answer 15

1.  Birth control is better than it used to be

2.  Kids are expensive!  College, a major expense, is more important than it used to be.

3.  People are concerned about overpopulation and the food supply.

4.  Infertility is more common, probably due to STDs, the rise in testicular cancer, and whtever else.

5.  Fewer women want to have a lot of children.

Answer 16

There are a lot of reasons.  First of all, nowadays we have birth control and it is widely accepted and used.  Also there are a ot more forms of entertainment available so couples are having less s*x.  Furthermore, decades ago people wanted big families to help work the farm, etc.  It was also much more common for children to pass away at a young age due to disease or no medical care so they wanted to have backups to carry on the family name.

Answer 17

Too much money to have so many kids. There are also birth control pills now. and I think the main reason is that less and less people have farms, therefore they need less help around the house. In places like Africa where there is less money, people still have like 9 kids, so that means it's not all about money.

Answer 18

Because WE ARE IN A RECESSION SAVE YOUR MONEY DON'T HAVE KIDS IT'S CHEAPER

and plus back then men had more power than his wife and if he demanded many kids he got it but now since women have more power they can choose wether or not to have a kid and plus why should they go trhough al that pain just for the men to have a free ride?

Answer 19

better birth control methods, people choosing careers over children now,  and because during earlier times people needed more children so that they could have more help farming (i could be wrong on that one though)

Answer 20

cost - years ago families could afford the father to work and the mother to stay home and have loads of babies - these days to have a mortgage (unless your a millionaire) or to afford rent a house needs 2 full time workers - unless ur a bum on the doll in which case u have loads of kids and psonge off the council and get others to pay and raise ur kids thru taxes.

Answer 21

Because of the costs and expenses and how much of their life they have to devote to them. Also they just don't feel like it.

Answer 22

More expensive, who can really have that many kids anymore? besides before lots of children were not expected to live past their childhood years, and now because of modern medicine children are living a lot longer.

Answer 23

Effective relatively safe contraception is much more widely available now (mainly The Pill). Therefore people are much more able to choose if and when to have kids.

It was very common in the past to see your children as someone to look after you when you became to old to work (still true in some parts). As, generally, peoples' economic circumstances have improved AND especially social/economic support for elderly people have improved, the people have much less desire for kids for that reason.

There has also been a major change in the religious/moral beliefs of society. Many people still see contraception as immoral, but that belief has diminished a lot as better education, better knowledge, and other society changes have greatly improved the choices for people - especially women.

Answer 24

Because people are actually starting to raise their children properly! My mother in law has 12 brothers and sisters! DISGUSTING! Her mom must look like a wrinkled bag... oh wait, she's deceased!

She had 4 kids herself. I think 4 is too many.

I have one child. I'm thinking about one more, tops!

It's happening because it's expensive to put kids through college. There is a high expectation that kids born these days make better than their parents. In order for that to happen, we need to be able to afford these changes. Food, gas, clothing, shelter, it's all going up in price, and the wages aren't. I think it has to do with finances!

Answer 25

Back in the day people had farms and needed people to work them.  Child labor was the best alternative and finding birth control wasn't as easy.  Also back in the day the price of a gallon of gas was much less than buying lunch.  The news could also assist with answering your question.

Answer 26

Back in the days people needed more kids to help on the fields and make sure there would be taken care of the parents when they were older. Now people have their jobs and kids kick their parents in to homes

Answer 27

The cost of living and the cost of raising a family have both rapidly increased far past the average salary which is increasing at a much slower rate.

Answer 28

Higher costs of living, more prophylactics and higher abortion rates, and also less marriages (but more foolin' around casually).

s*x is more casual now then it was before, when it actually had to do with love and family.

Answer 29

From what my grandparents have told me, as well as countless old folks at the home I work in...people had more children for a couple of reasons.  

Birth Control for 1.

Also, families needed more help on their farms and ranches,  The more kids you had, the more workers you had.  Also if there was not a farm or ranch they would have the kids work for others.  When my grand-dad was five he was employed by a neighbor to get eggs from their chicken coop.  The more people there were the more income you had potential for.  

Then there is the fact that it is just too expensive to have too many kids.  I have 1 child and pay 640 a month in day care alone.  If I had two I wouldn't even be able to afford working...aint that some ****!!!  

Also I think people are a little more selfish than they used to be (myself included) I will be only 42 years old when my son graduates high school.  That leaves like half my life to do whatever the heck I want to do!!!

Answer 30

decades ago people lived on farms.. so children worked on the farm and helped .. so the more kids the more help you had to hire..  people married early and started having kids almost as soon.. there honestly werent as many other jobs to choose from.. other skills.

the other reason was that many children died either in childbirth, very young or in accidents/illness... it was very common to lose children decades ago.. men also went into the Military.. as it was more of a HONOR and DUTY. WHole families would serve.

Nowadays it is expensive.. people are more worried about being secure in their life and then being able to provide and being stable.. not going broke..

Answer 31

Society's priorities have changed.  People would rather have fancy cars and houses and boats and less kids.  We're not as strongly focused on family any more.  

And the cost of living has gone up....and people have learned birth control methods....