Would you find 13 kids BEFORE welfare state more difficult than Radfords?

[StrictlyOnIce]

I watch the Radford documentaries svd they come across as a secure, functional family where the kids are happy. It looks to me like they are doing a good job of raising their kids.

However my grandad was raised as one of 13 kids before welfare state and NHS.

So - I’ve often wondered - do you think it’s harder raising 13 kids with no welfare state or NHS or 22 kids in modern times.?

One was stillborn, so she never had to look after 22, plus some of the older ones had left home before the youngest were born.