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Families are shrinking. Fifty years ago, shows like The Waltons depicted large families with more than half a dozen kids. According to the Pew Research Center, the average American family downsized from 3.7 children in 1960 to 1.9 currently, and about 20 percent of households with children are one-child families. The single-child configuration is the fastest growing family unit. The reasons for the only-child family are many and varied: they include finances, infertility, age of parent, medical concerns, and the plain desire to have only one. Given the stresses of modern marriage, job pressures, the cost of raising children, the increase in one-child families is understandable.

The Trend Toward the Only-Child Family

Psychologist Susan Newman offers some reasons for the trend toward only children: Women, who are marrying and starting families later in life, have fewer years for childbearing. The divorce rate is still high, which affects the timeline of having subsequent children. The cost of raising and educating children is high. Adoption regulations have tightened. More women are in the workforce with young children, and managing large families is difficult.

Who are the parents of only children?

Many only children are being raised by parents who choose to have a child on their own. These women are in large part educated, responsible, emotionally mature, and fiscally able to support their offspring. Many of them are in their thirties and forties and embrace advances such as sperm donation and in-vitro fertilization to become mothers.

Do only children do well in school?

It’s not surprising that only children get more attention from parents. One study found that only children enjoy parents who read often to them, which promotes higher performance academically as well as greater verbal skills than children with siblings.

Raising One Child
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With or without siblings, depending on the child himself, a parent may be called on to help orchestrate his time. But no parent should feel that they need to fill their child’s time. For only children, they are largely fine with being independent. He is the child able to amuse himself and is perfectly content when left to his own devices.

Will my only child be lonely and bored?

Without constant parental input, only children are good at utilizing the extra time they have. When you worry that your child may be bored or lonely without a sibling, consider there is a significant and useful upside of alone time. It fosters creativity, which also encourages a child’s independence and ability to entertain herself.

Do only children have more imaginary friends?

One would think that more alone time would result in having more pretend friends. Research from the University of Oregon shows that about 65 percent of all children have make-believe friendships. While only children might be imaginative, they do not own this territory.

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