If you grew up in a big family.....

[DuggarMother]

Did you like it?

How do you feel about it now? Would you recommend it?

Totally agree abbey.

Unsustainable agriculture and climate change caused by burning of fossil fuels are the problems, not the people who must choose between one cheap car that runs on petrol or another. These are problems that are tied to classic capitalism. Renewable energy and rational agriculture are the answers to scarcity and to future scarcity. More food plants and less meat are needed. Wind and water power are needed to replace the fossil fuel use that is increasingly ruining the environment via emissions. People need to get over their aversion to the sight of wind farms in picturesque spots.

The idea of running out of resources unless people have less children is contradicted many times on this thread where it is suggested that fewer children means more money to spend on those you have already, more attention in the form of more ferrying around to activities and hobbies, more holidays. As income increases, consumption on the part of those making more money or left with more disposable income to spend tends to increase too. This is often wasteful or unnecessary consumption, for example the replacement of a car every three or four years instead of every seven or eight years, the replacement of a perfectly fine tv with one that is bigger or has better sound or some such fine detail. Population control in China ('one family one child') has not had the effect of reducing the carbon footprint of China on the world.

Population growth on a global level has consistently fallen since the peak of the 1960s. Lower birth rates in poor parts of the world have occurred with women's access to birth control and social justice developments that allow women to make choices about their fertility, along with the expectation that education will be part of the life of every child born. Having a family of one or two children in Basingstoke will not have any impact on the life of a poor family in Bangladesh except perhaps to limit the opportunities that family has to earn money in a factory that makes children's clothing.

What makes a difference in our use of resources and on scarcity and quality of life is national and international policy that focuses on encouraging 'green' solutions and social justice.

Not really, math. My one child can only eat so much. Seven children are going to eat a hell of a lot more than one child. Food, and the meat- and dairy- industries are a huge, if not the hugest problem on our resources.

www.cowspiracy.com/ is a good place to start.

Thanks you so much to everyone who has commented on this thread. It has been very helpful to read other people's perspectives on growing up in a big family.

I really appreciate the way that a lot of posters have shared some very personal experiences and emotions on here.

I sort of feel like I am betraying my younger siblings by saying I wish I wasn't from such a big family. I truthfully feel like my life has been made much harder because of the family size.

I can never really tell anyone else - apart from dh - so it has been good to get it out , and to be able to relate to what others have said has been nice.

That's why I said we need to move to plant foods and cut down on meats (and dairy too). The problem isn't that people eat, it's that the meat industry has friends in policy making circles.

Sorry, math I missed you saying that.
I still think we could do with fewer mouths to feed though!

Even though the large family may knit their own socks and not go on aeroplanes they will still all need cars, houses etc when they grow up...

After two days of easy flat walks on hard frost we did Helmsley to Rievaulx and back in the mud today. A bacon bap and pot of tea in the Black Swan made it all seem worthwhile. Knees and hips aching now.

After we got back and cleaned up DDog she flopped on the rug but moments later, when she heard the word "walkies", she sprang up, wagging from nose to tail as though she couldn't wait to get going again.

DD was allegedly revising but seems to have watched some Star Trek as well.

Lovely fire going. No inclination to move again.

NU glad to hear DCat has rallied. Hope same goes for you.

Sorry wrong thread. Though I did grow up in a big family

The larger family members will also be funding your pensions through their taxes.

Sounds as if a lovely afternoon was had by all Auriga

Eldest of 4
Good and bad points.

Good, always someone to play with, could play team games like rounders .

Bad, not enough money to do things as everything was very expensive as there was 6 of us. No privacy at all. No time with either parent, I don't ever recall even watching tv sat on the sofa with either parent. People used to lump us together as ' the children' and treat us all the same way, except there is 10 years difference between me and the youngest and when you are 15, being treated like a 5 year old is not all that fun.

Incidentally none of us really get on or are close at all now we are adults.

How are other people funding my pension? We put more into the state than we take out - no one funds our pension except us! Surely only the people who put more in than they take out are funding other people's pensions and that would apply whether you were an only or from a family of 16?

There is no actual 'national insurance' pot of money. There is a social contract that you pay in when you can & get paid out when you need (i.e. when you're elderly) - but right now your contributions are directly transferred to current pensioners. For the social contract to be 'honoured' - you are relying on a sufficient number of sufficiently earning young people to be paying taxes when you're elderly. This is not at all self-evident - since we're expecting to live longer - hence why retirement age etc is rising.

Solving the problem by increasing the population on an annual basis is like investing in a pyramid scheme. Increasing productivity of the population is the way to go...not increasing the population year on year.

I don't think the extra people funding my pension are paying as much out to me as I'll be paying out to school and NHS them.

Population is increasing because people are living longer. According to the BBC UK birth rate is currently 1.85 per woman - which is less than replacement rate. Bigger families are just the other side of the bell curve from childless couples - not some kind of spreading menace.

Exactly, 5ChildrenandIt. Pensions are in fact a giant ponzi scheme, not the idea that people are needed to pay the taxes that provide them at the point where they are paid out. There is only so much increasing of productivity that can be managed, and productivity is only a part of the overall economic picture. Economies and workforces can't be regulated to the extent that declining populations of taxpayers can hope to produce enough wealth to support large elderly populations and also maintain enough consumption to create an economy in the first place. People on fixed incomes (pensions for instance) tend not to be big spenders.

Japan is struggling for this reason.
'Japan has a demographic problem, which has become an economic problem.
The population is gradually getting older, people are having fewer children, and the ratio between prime age workers and retirees is shrinking. That means less consumption, more fixed incomes, and a greater need for government benefits. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has a steep uphill battle ahead of him when it comes to trying to grow GDP.'

It's not just a matter of people living longer -- the birth rate is also falling below the replacement rate, which is a double whammy in many developed states.

Hi there,

We've been asked if we can move this thread over to our Larger Families topic so it doesn't auto-delete after 90 days. The OP's agreed, so we're moving it over now.