Band 7+: In many parts of the world, families were larger in the past because people had more children. Do you think there were more advantages or disadvantages to being a part of a large family in the past?

In the past, it was not uncommon for families in many regions globally to comprise more members because people usually had more children. In my opinion, there were more benefits than potential drawbacks to being a part of a large family in earlier times.

Being in a family with many members had many positive sides. Firstly, children were less likely to feel lonely or isolated as they had many siblings around them to play games, go to school, and share happiness or sorrow. When companying each other, children could have more opportunities to create shared memories, which helped them enhance their connection and generate a sense of belonging. In addition, being in a large family, the younger generation usually bore less stress or burden as they could receive support from their siblings. For example, they had siblings to help them with household chores in childhood and to share the duty of looking after their parents and grandparents when they grew up. Last but not least, as a part of a large family, people were more likely to master social skills as they needed to communicate, cooperate, and respect each other when living together. These experiences and skills developed would give them an edge in school or the workplace.

However, there were also disadvantages of being a part of a large family. One potential drawback could be diminished parental involvement. In big families, parents might struggle to provide each child with the personalized attention and nurturing required for emotional well-being. This could result in some children feeling overlooked, impacting their self-esteem and confidence. Another disadvantage could be financial stress. It was usually a great challenge for breadwinners such as parents to afford the enormous expense of so many family members, especially when children could not share the burden of income at a young age.

In my opinion, although a large family could lead to potential drawbacks, there were more advantages than disadvantages because the negative sides could always be solved through mutual support among family members.