In many parts of the world, families were larger in the past because people had more children. Do you think there were more advantages or disadvantages to being part of a large family in the past?

Being a child in a modern family has experience which is totally different from one who was born and grew up in a family in the distant past. In my opinion, there were more disadvantages than advantages of being a member of a large family for some reasons. On the one hand, there were some benefits when being bred into an extended family.

Firstly

, they had other people to play with.

For example

, when their parents were busy making a living, younger offspring could have fun with their older siblings.

Also

, when they spent time with each other, they might quarrel which taught them to learn how to defend themselves.

Secondly

, they would become more responsible when they helped in the house

such

as doing the washing up, cooking and tidying the house.

Lastly

, young members learnt many good things/ gained many good lessons from elder members including their grandparents and older brothers or sisters.

On the other hand

, it is undoubtedly that there were some drawbacks to being raised in a huge family. As the mother had to stay at home and take care of all family members, the family earned less money resulting in less money being paid for education and other recreational activities. Because there were many occupants in the family, individual children did not get much attention from their parents.

Hence

, when they were in trouble, they usually suffered which was bad for their mental health. In conclusion, based on the advantages and disadvantages mentioned above, I am convinced that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. Children in large families tended to have poor education and the possibility to have a bright future was lower compared with other children in small families.