The bigger the family the better, says Cassandra Jardine

Cassandra Jardine
12:02AM BST 21 Aug 2008
A new report concludes that children growing up in large families are happier and more successful. Told
you so, says mother-of-five Cassandra Jardine
When I tell people that I have five children, they tend to ay: !"uc#y you$! %oughly tranlated, that &ean: !What a
ho'(off$! A generation )ac#, large fa&ilie 'ere generally attri)uted to re*ection of contraception+ no'aday, they
are conidered to )e a pu)lic declaration of a huge inco&e, li&itle energy and a elfih diregard for the future of
the planet, to )oot$
,one of the a)ove i true in &y cae, )ut I-& al'ay rather fee)le in putting the cae for large fa&ilie any &ore
coherently than to ay that I en*oy having lot of children, ho'ever e.penive and tiring they can )e$
/ach thro' of the genetic dice i a ne' adventure, a facinating individual, another o&eti&e tireo&e, uually
lovea)le )undle of trength and 'ea#nee$ I didn-t plan to have o &any+ I *ut couldn-t )ear to top$
The point a)out )ig fa&ilie i that they are &ore than the u& of their part ( they are a &icroco& of ociety in
'hich the &e&)er )attle for attention and the )et eat in the car$
29 Jun 2013
The 0ua))le are endle, and often intene, )ut at the end of the day 1literally2 everyone ha to get on 'ith one
another, )ecaue they have to hare the televiion re&ote control$ A uch, I-ve al'ay )elieved that large fa&ilie
are not *ut a elfih pleaure )ut )eneficial for the country, even the 'orld ( )ut, until no', I-ve )een hort of
a&&unition for arguing &y cae$
I-& grateful, therefore, to S#y ,e' preenter 3olin Bra4ier, 'ho ha pent the pat five year ae&)ling evidence
that upport the idea that larger fa&ilie are A 5ood Thing$ !We are o often told a)out the diadvantage of large
fa&ilie that 'e have lot ight of the hidden advantage,! he ay$
6i &iion )egan one day at the tart of the Ira0 'ar 'hen, 'hile e&)edded 'ith the 7nited State ar&y, he heard
a radio report clai&ing that the cot of )ringing up a child had rien to 8180,000$
At the ti&e he didn-t have the five children that he ha no', )ut he 'a already a'are that it 'a )un#u& to ugget
that it cot a &uch a the price of a fa&ily houe to raie each child$ By haring )edroo&, )ath and toy, he
could ee that each additional child in a large fa&ily 'or#ed out cheaper to raie than a child in a &all fa&ily$
,or did he feel it 'a fair to calculate that each child add an additional 9:0 ton of car)on dio.ide to the
environ&ent$ !What a)out econo&ie of cale;! he thought$
!A four(peron houehold ue half a &uch electricity, per capita, a a ho&e for one$ The people 'ho are &eing
up the planet are the ingle people living alone in 'an#y apart&ent$ So&eone need to re)ut thee nonenical
torie$!
Since then he ha not *ut gathered argu&ent for the defence, he ha gone on the attac#$ 6aving condened hi
reearch into an article for the thin# tan# 3ivita, he &ay need to don hi fla# *ac#et again, )ecaue the anti(natalit
'ho advocate the )enefit of a &all fa&ily &ay not li#e 'hat he ha to ay$
,or &ay the 5overn&ent$ In <rance, parent 'ith three or &ore children are given &edal for their procreative
valour$ In Britain, 'e are penalied )y higher ta.e on people carrier and 'ill oon have to pay through the noe
for ru))ih collection and 'ater ue$
=rivate chool don-t offer dicount for )ul# )uying, 'hile tate chool are a)andoning i)ling policie, o parent
can-t au&e that they 'on-t have to hurtle around to everal chool each &orning$
The reult of uch &eaure, co&)ined 'ith the contant care torie a)out the cot of children, i that >0,000
people have fallen into a )a)y gap: they 'ould li#e to have &ore children )ut don-t dare )ecaue they can-t afford a
larger houe or )igger car$
With the Britih )irthrate currently tanding at 1$9 per 'o&an ( 'ell )elo' replace&ent level ( Bra4ier argue that
there- no need for uch retraint$ It doen-t &atter if you can-t afford a large houe$
3hildren 'ho hare )edroo& are phyically healthier than thoe 'ho don-t, )ecaue their i&&une yte& are
toughened up )y catching &inor illnee fro& one another in their early year$ If they are a )it cra&ped and have
to endure )eing told they can-t al'ay have the ne' trainer or toy they 'ant, that- good for the&$
6aving everal i)ling i alo a pointer to future &ental health$ Scion of large fa&ilie tand a good chance of
&a#ing a ucce of their &arriage, )ecaue they are ued to haring$
There i alo afety in nu&)er fro& the preure of a&)itiou, fuing parent 'hoe tendency to hover li#e
helicopter over their children- head contri)ute, according to a recent 7nicef urvey, to Britih children )eing the
&ot &iera)le in the developed 'orld$
I-& a #een a the ne.t &other for &y children to )e 'orld()eater, )ut 'ith everal children to co&pare I-& &ore
realitic a)out their talent and don-t have either the ti&e or the reource to apply the &ental thu&)cre'$ Motly,
I-& happy to ettle for the children )eing 'hoever they happen to )e, o long a they help 'ith the 'ahing(up$
3hore are an iue in larger fa&ilie$ The very rich can e&ploy ar&ie of cleaner to pic# up after their )rood, )ut
the ret of u rely on the children to loo# after the&elve$ With a little )enign neglect they are forced to learn to
clean, coo#, fi. thing for the&elve and )a)yit one another$ They &ay gru&)le, )ut thee are &ore ueful life
#ill than playing the violin$
,ot that children fro& large fa&ilie underperfor& educationally, a ued to )e thought$
The theory 'a that parent 'ith lot of children top reading to the& and par# the& in front of the televiion, )ut a
urvey of 22,000 <rench chool(leaver found that acade&ic perfor&ance i&proved 'ith additional i)ling o long
a one parent 'a !an educated profeional!$ ?no'ledge and tudiou ha)it tric#le do'n the fa&ily$
@ounger children get le parental help 'ith their ho&e'or#, )ut their older i)ling act a teacher and the younger
one learn to 'or# on their o'n$ It 'ould )e nice if it 'ere o$ 3hildren fro& large fa&ilie are alo le li#ely to )e
&e&)er of the a'#'ard 0uad at chool: having had their rough edge 'orn do'n )y i)ling 0ua))le, they tend
to )e co(operative in the claroo&$
Ane non(econo&ic, non(ecological reaon 'hy parent li&it the&elve to &all fa&ilie thee day i that they li#e
the idea of having the ti&e to )e )et friend 'ith their &ini(&e$ In large fa&ilie relationhip )et'een i)ling
)eco&e &ore i&portant than thoe 'ith their parent, 'ho are too )uy #eeping the ho' on the road to go on
endle one(to(one hopping or foot)all trip$
Thi, too, )ring )onue: not only do children in large fa&ilie have &ore i)ling a&ong 'ho& to find oul(&ate
)ut there i al'ay o&eone to give advice or act a 'hitle()lo'er if they are doing o&ething dodgy$
Ta#ing the e&phai off the parentBchild relationhip alo &ean that t'entyo&ething fro& )ig fa&ilie are le
li#ely to *oin the gro'ing horde 'ho live at ho&e, )ehaving li#e --#idult! 'ell pat the age 'hen they hould )e
ta#ing reponi)ility for the&elve$
They are alo )etter at )eing parent the&elve ( and le li#ely to need Supernanny- advice ( )ecaue they have
&ore e.perience of eeing ho' it- done$
What- &iing in thi country, Bra4ier conclude, i a lo))y to uphold the &anifold )enefit and interet of the
large fa&ilie$ If he 'ant to tart one, he can count &e in$ Why i4e really &atter
Pros
C 3hildren fro& larger fa&ilie get into fe'er fight, and are )etter at &a#ing and #eeping friend$
C Through having i)ling, children learn e&pathy, tea& playing, gratification defer&ent, ti&e(&anage&ent and ho'
to reolve dipute$
C 3hildren 'ith everal i)ling have lo'er rate of ath&a, ec4e&a and hay fever$ They &a#e fe'er viit to the
doctor and have a reduced ri# of leu#ae&ia, cancer and dia)ete$
C Alder i)ling prevent younger one )eing )ullied$
C In larger fa&ilie play i le cloely upervied$ 3hildren learn to ta#e ri#, 'hich 'ill &a#e the& )etter
e&ployee and e&ployer$
C 3h
ildren in large fa&ilie learn to coo#, ue the 'ahing &achine and to iron$
C In larger fa&ilie there i &ore e&phai on thrift$
C Thoe 'ho gro' up 'ith i)ling are )etter at getting on 'ith the oppoite e. and have fe'er divorce$
Cons
C Developer are )uilding o fe' larger ho&e that a third )edroo& can add a fifth to the price of a houe, and a
fourth t'o third$
C Since 1>88 the ta. and )enefit yte& ha left larger fa&ilie living on average inco&e 'ore off$
C 3onverting a loft or )ae&ent &ean higher council ta. )ill$
C <a&ily tic#et for &any attraction are li&ited to t'o children$
C 3ar ta. on larger car &ay oon )e follo'ed )y dearer par#ing$
C Many 'i&&ing pool allo' an adult to upervie only t'o children$
C In Autralia there are propoal for a car)on ta. on parent 'ith &ore than t'o children$