Is there MORE PREJUDICE against CHILDFREE/1-CHILD FAMILIES than it is against LA

1. 83

   gmwilliamsposted 6 years ago

   Is there MORE PREJUDICE against CHILDFREE/1-CHILD FAMILIES than it is against LARGE/VERY LARGE
   
   FAMILIES(6-more children per household)?  Why? Why not?  Many parents of large/very large families incessantly state that there is prejudice against large families.  However, there is STILL massive prejudice against the childfree/1-child family in that some people refuse to consider such families authentic.  Also, it is usually those from large/very large families who are THE MOST PREJUDICED against the childfree/1-child family, not the other way around. 
   
   

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2. 87

   tamarawilhiteposted 6 years ago

   I've seen it both ways. If you have a large family, your own family likely supports it or tolerates it. In broader society, the prejudice tends more toward the general disdain for the poor and low IQ, family size irrelevant. What has been interesting is several religious families we know that had 5-7 children where the parents are college educated and people are SURPRISED that they are educated, talented, self-supporting. Then the bias is less but the family is still seen as neglectful for having so many.
   If you are childless, it is seen as an affront to relatives - "I want a grandbaby! You're selfish by not having a baby!" Many older people compensate for mortality by focusing on the continuation of genes and ideology - and choosing not to have children ends their biological line.
   I haven't seen much bias against parents of only children as compared to 30 years ago. Whether due to having your first child later in life or high cost of living or debt, having one child is often all one can manage.
   I think my most frustrating situation was having my firstborn after fertility treatment and a difficult pregnancy and getting asked repeatedly when we were having another child. We eventually did, but it was like "We just got one, didn't you see all that took, aren't you happy?!"
   Note - It is wrong for those on welfare to be having children the rest of us support; if you cannot afford the ones you have, we should as a society have the right to prevent more births by said mother until she can support herself or marries a man who can. In that case, an IUD or injected long term contraceptive so she doesn't have more children is reasonable.

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3. 83

   gmwilliamsposted 6 years ago

   
   
   Even though childfree & 1-child families are becoming more acceptable, there is STILL UNDERLYING PREJUDICE against such families.  Many people still insist that authentic & real families consist of at least 2 children per household.  They vehemently contend that childfree & 1-child families aren't really families in the true sense.  This attitude is a holdover of pronatalist culture. 
   
   Many people believe that marriage should result in children.  They opine that couples who willingly don't have children are immature, even self-centered.  They maintain that mature married people have children as children are an integral part of marriage.  They even assert that being married induces one to have children. 
   
   Then there is the issue of the 1-child family.   There are people who believe that any couple has purposely have 1 child must be amiss.  They strongly argue that children need at least one sibling in order for them to develop properly.  They aver that only children are "missing out" because of lack of a sibling.  They feel that only children are somewhat misaligned so to speak.  They also feel that 1-child families as childfree families are incomplete because there aren't at least 2 children in the family.
   
   On the other hand, people who have lots of children strongly contend that society is prejudiced against large families.  They purport feeling out of place in a society which caters to small families.  They contend that people look at them as if they were abnormal, wondering why in this age of contraception would anyone elect to have a large family. 
   
   Parents who have lots of children routinely remark that there is MORE PREJUDICE against large families than there is against childfree & 1-child families.  However, such isn't the case at all..  There IS FAR MORE prejudice against childfree & 1-child families & such prejudice usually comes from parents, especially mothers, of large families.
   
   People really aren't prejudiced against large families.  They are rightfully indignant at such families.  They criticize such families & rightfully so because such children won't receive the proper parental love & attention.  Some children such as the oldest/older children will be cast aside unless they are needed to serve parents & younger siblings.   People also know that large families are pathological w/high incidences of abuse, neglect, & diminished opportunities.

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