ISSUES
: Our Changing Population
Chapter 2: Global population issues
39
Lucy, 42, mother to Eloise, three,
believes adapting the way you
raise your child according to the
dynamic, counteracts the potential
issues facing only children: “I feel
that as long as I make sure that
I’m Eloise’s friend and companion
as well as her mummy, and that
her family friends are lifelong, she
won’t miss a sibling.”
But can a close
relationship have its
drawbacks?
“Being hyper-critical, I could say
our son gets spoiled with our love
– there’s no sibling to make him
question anything in this area,”
says Suzie.
“But is that bad? To have such
a secure base to develop self-
esteem from? I’ve absolutely no
doubt that parents of more than
one child love them equally, but
it’s got to be difficult for niggling
insecurities about divided loyalty
not to crop up at some point.”
Less financial pressure
Parents spend £9,610 a year
feeding, clothing and educating
each new member of the family,
according to a 2010 report. This
makes the average cost of raising
a child to the age of 21, a whopping
£201,809. And that doesn’t include
uniforms, sports equipment and
school trips, which add a further
£52,881.
That’s almost a quarter of a million
pounds in all. So, it’s hardly
surprising money is a major driver
behind Britain’s shrinking family.
“I freelance, and can’t work for a
month in the summer when Louis’
playschool is closed. I am also the
one who takes care of him when
he’s sick as I can be more flexible
with my time. I nevertheless earn
less as a result,” says David.
“How can we expect to earn more
money to pay for the additional
expense of a second child? Work
harder? Longer hours? More
exhaustion, stress and less time
with this wonderful boy?”
Suzie agrees that reducing financial
stress can have a big impact on
family life. “We have no intention of
spoiling Xander, materially,” says
Suzie. “But it’s nice to know it will
be easier to provide for him – not to
mention, much cheaper to organise
childcare.” Holidays would be thin
on the ground if we had two,” says
Jenny. “And then we’d have to find
a bigger place to live... and the list
goes on.”
If the anecdotal evidence of a few
happy, single-child families isn’t
enough to convince you, there is a
growing raft of research to support
the case for only children, too.
Toni
Falbo,
Professor
of
Educational Psychology at the
University of Texas’ Population
Research Center, who has studied
the outcomes of only children in
the US and China for more than
30 years, says, if anything only
children have an advantage when
it comes to self-esteem, motivation
and academic achievement.
And research undertaken at Ohio
State University also revealed that
being an only child does not make
youngsters lonely, unable to make
friends, spoiled or selfish.
14 August 2014
Ö
Ö
The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from The Huffington Post
UK.
Please
visit
www.
huffingtonpost.co.uk for further
information.
© 2015 AOL (UK) Limited
“Being hyper-critical,
I could say our son
gets spoiled with our
love – there’s no sibling
to make him question
anything in this area”
“it’s hardly surprising
money is a major
driver behind Britain’s
shrinking family”
