Popular thinking often paints an unflattering picture of only children, portraying them as self-centered, attention-seeking, dependent, and temperamental. Despite these negative stereotypes, smaller families in general--and the one-child option--are growing in popularity.
Changing family patterns, economic concerns, and new roles for women may contribute to parents' choosing the one-child option:
* Divorce rates (higher than ever before) and the tendency for couples to marry later in life may contribute to shorter marriages and potentially fewer children
* Inflation and high unemployment, contributing to reduced family income, may encourage parents to have smaller families
* The majority of women are now employed before they have children. The benefits of this added income and involvement in careers may lead women to postpone childbearing and bear fewer children
Are There Any Advantages To Being An Only Child?
Most current data appear to indicate that only children have a slight edge over children with siblings on measures of intelligence and achievement--and that they suffer no serious interpersonal deficits. In fact, only children may have some advantages as a result of their special status: more attention from parents, freedom from sibling rivalry and comparison, and access to more family resources, to name a few.
Are There Any Disadvantages To Being An Only Child?
As an only child to the family the pressure that is with you is heavy. No doubt you may not need to compare yourself to your siblings, but what about others like your cousins? Don’t forget that you are the only hope to your parents. Moreover, you have nobody to stand besides you to give suggestion, to support you, to back you up....
Think twice, parents...
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