Despite the growing trends mentioned above, two children still seems to the ideal number. An actual study revealed one to two children is the ideal number for “happiness”, but with two you don't have to deal with the aforementioned only child issues.
According to a Gallup poll, 4 in 10 Americans say three or more children is the ideal family size.
According to the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Western University in Canada, having a third baby won't make you any happier. While parents' happiness increases in the year before and after the first and second children, the birth of third children doesn't see the same increased happiness.
Research suggests that having two children is still most people's idea of the 'ideal' family size. Having said that, according to the Office for National Statistics, one-child families have been on the increase over the last two decades.
According to a study out of Australia's Edith Cowan University, parents with the most life satisfaction (which means those who are the happiest) are those that have four or more children.
More Kids Means Better Sharing
When you have four children, they don't have any choice but to share. Kids share their parents' attention, their toys, and often their bedrooms. There are enormous benefits to sharing, too! Kids learn empathy and patience growing up in a home where they need to share.
According to a survey conducted by British parenting website Bounty, two girls are considered the best combination for parents to have a happy and harmonious family life. In their study, they surveyed 2,116 parents who had children aged 16 and under.
Having two children is good for your health
Having two children reduces mortality risk. Three different studies looked at thousands of older adults and found the same thing: two kids was the sweet spot for health. The risk of an early death increases by 18% for parents of an only child.
A TODAYMoms.com survey of more that 7,000 mothers found that the least stressful number of kids is four, while the most stressful number is three. Scary Mommy blogger Jill Smokler told Today that she wholeheartedly agrees.
Since having five or more kids is generally the cutoff point for being considered a “large” family, here are all the ways your parenting will change once you hit that pivotal plus-five milestone.
Pros of having a third baby
You'll still be able to go out easily as a family of five. Your kids will have more than one sibling. Having three kids may be an easier transition than you think.
As it turns out, having three kids makes moms the most stressed of any combination of kids, according to a TODAY Parents survey. Mothers of three (naturally) reported more stress than parents of one or two kids ... but moms with four or more little ones actually reported lower stress levels.
To “large families” 3 kids isn't a lot, and a family is typically considered big with 4 kids or more.
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Western culture idealizes youth, so it may come as a surprise to learn that in a recent poll asking this question, the most popular answer wasn't 9 or 23, but 36.
They become quite independent as they reach 5-6 years of age, even wanting to help you with some of the chores! This is probably why most parents look at age 6 as the magical age when parenting gets easier.
It's subtle, but it seems the more siblings a person has, the likelier they are to be happy. Sibling related happiness seems to even out past three siblings, but it's interesting to note that that the “3” response group also features the largest “Unhappy” response.
But many first-time parents find that after the first month of parenthood, it can actually get more difficult. This surprising truth is one reason many experts refer to a baby's first three months of life as the “fourth trimester.” If months two, three, and beyond are tougher than you expected, you're not alone.
Forget the terrible twos and prepare for the hateful eights ‒ parents have named age 8 as the most difficult age to parent, according to new research. Eight being the troublesome year likely comes as a surprise to many parents, especially since parents polled found age 6 to be easier than they expected.
The typical American picture of a family with 2.5 kids might not be as relevant as it once was: In 2022, there was an average of 1.94 children under 18 per family in the United States.
MYTH: Only children are lonely. FACT: Only children can have as many friends as their peers with siblings do.
The bottom line is, it's totally fine and absolutely normal to change your mind about having more than one kid after you actually have one and realize what it's like. It's also totally fine to change your mind about it right now and then change it back again in a few months or a year or two years from now.
There's also a growing belief that three is the ideal number of children, not two. Twins also throw a spanner into the equation; many people are concerned about the ideal age gap between siblings, and twins don't really have one.
Based on the study findings, they suggest the optimal time between giving birth and getting pregnant again is 18 months, with a range of 12 to 24 months. That said, many experts still adhere to the recommendation of 18 to 24 months.
“Parents tend to favour a child that is most like them, reminds them of themselves, or represents what they view as a success of parenting,” she says. “Younger children are most likely to have been raised by a parent who, over time and experience, is more confident and skilled in their child-raising.”