How big is a big family?

Question

I was just wondering. I grew up as the oldest of 11, so it was always really strange to hear four or five kids being a big family. I think until recently it broke down something like this:
1=tiny, 2-4=small, 5-7=decent, 8-10=big, 11+ really really big
So, my two questions are:
1. How do you define a big family?
2. How many kids did your parents have?
I'm wondering how much of a correlation there is.

Answer 1

Well recently families have been getting smaller and smaller for several reasons: people wanting to concentrate on their careers first and the improvment in contraception.



The average amount of kids is usually around 3. It also depends in the area you grow up.

Nowadays 11 kids would be a VERY big family but 50 years or so, possibly a bit more it would be very normal - or just above normal.



I am one of the youngest of six and you may think thats very small but I've never met anyone my age that has more siblings than me, most of my friends had around 2 siblings. And when i am telling people about my family they always say "Wow, big family."



I think currently it is kind of like this

1=rather small 2/3 decent 4=quite big 5/6=big 7+ VEry big.

Answer 2

I think 3 kids is a big family nowadays. Most people either have no kids at all or just have one, maybe two kids. People are not getting married young and having babies right away like they used to back in our parents, grandparents day. Many of my friends are married and want no children! Which I find odd but hey, thats what they want. I grew up with one brother, so there were two kids. My mom was a single parent though so having more kids would have been way more difficult than she already had it. I am pregnant with my second baby and we have one biological and one adopted kid, so this will make 3 kids. I'm done after this!! This is a big enough family for me :)

Answer 3

Well, I've always considered myself to have come from a big family. That being said, I am an only child, however "family" to me, doesn't mean 'the children of my parents', but rather, 'everyone I am related to, as descended from as far back as I can trace (ie my great-grandmother, paternally and maternally on my dad's side)'. Amongst my family, my particular branch was the 'oddball' one, as both me and my dad were only children. The rest of my family has had at least 2, on average 4, and at most 5 kids for every generation... ie my great-grandma had 4 kids, my great-uncle had 4 kids, his daughter had 5 kids, and the young one of that generation had 2. I personally count my family as being in the hundreds, not to mention the family I married into, which is pretty big as well... and my own two kids.



But as for immediate family goes... the biggest family I've had the honor to meet was my best friend, who had 8 brothers and sisters, and then some half-siblings or somesuch.

Answer 4

I personally think this:

1: very small

2-5: moderately sized

6+: big

I am the youngest of 10 kids. I think that having a lot of siblings is really awesome.

Answer 5

I'd do

1 - not a family, just a person

2-3 small

4-6 Average

7-9 Large

10+ Huge!



1. I define a big family as any family that can't live in a normal size house comfortably throughout adulthood (normal being up to 4 or 5 bedrooms)



My mom had 6 children (one died at 3 weeks), my dad had 4 children, 2 with my mom. (the other two did not live with us)

Answer 6

1. I define a big family as 5 or more kids. So, 7 or more people in the family.

2. My parents had 2 kids toegther. Then I had 4 half-siblings.



But - my mom has 11 brothers and sisters and my dad has 7 brothers and sisters. So each of them have very large families.

Answer 7

It depends on how many kids you can afford financially. You'd also have to manage between all of them and yourself, which would be a lot of work if you want 3+ kids. So if want to live under "ideal conditions", I'd suggest you have a good sized house and a good income to support everyone. I'd say that 4-10 is good for a large family, unless you wanna be like the Duggars and pop 19 kids out instead. My mom had 6 kids so I ideally want a large family too. though I'm probably the only one out of all of my siblings that want a large family.i think it's good to have siblings, even if you only have one sibling.

Answer 8

In today's society any more than 4 kids is considered a "big" family. Sixty years ago a big family was 10 kids.

Answer 9

1. I consider a family to be big if they have more than four children.

2. I'm an only child.

Answer 10

I read in the newspaper that three is now considered a large family (!)



But I would say 6 would be big for me.



I have three children so far and don't count us as a big family.



I was one of five, stuck in the middle!

Answer 11

my dad was the oldest of 5 so his family had 7 and when he was younger his family was considered small



nowadays i would say a family of 7 is big



i wish i lived in a big family

Answer 12

I have three kids. I grew up with just my sister and me. I say big is 4 or more. Anything more than 6 is crazy. Anything more than 8 is insane...lol. Hope that helps. -Draya :)

Answer 13

5+ is a big family.

Answer 14

2.1 children is now average, so I would consider

1-small

2-4 average

5-6 above average

7+ large

Answer 15

Decent? What having 2 kids is not decent?



2-4 is average. you troll