Drawbacks of having LOTS of Kids

[KUJustin]

Can anyone link me to some research/data about the drawbacks of having lots of kids (or positives?).

I mean anecdotal evidence and/or common sense assumptions are good, but some hard facts would be interesting. I hope this isn't considered googletarding but I'm not really sure how to look this one up.

[pokergrader]

They seem expensive.

[superadvisor]

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They seem expensive.

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Yeah but the older ones can take care of the younger ones, just make money to pay for food and stuff and then put them to work cleaning the house etc, that's a pretty sweet gig in my opinion.

[seemorenuts]

Seriously, there was a Scientific American article about 20 years ago about how Asian families thrived with lots of kids because they'd teach the eldest to tutor the younger kids.

Google it.

Highest current record I've met in person is this Portuguese man who's about 30 who has 11 kids with one woman. They live in a three bedroom apartment and I swear, his closet (that you can't even walk into, 18" deep) houses his computer because he enjoys video games. Lol. He seems pretty happy.

[traz]

You're going to overpopulate the planet and we're all going to die. Small family please

[solids]

Apparently you've never seen 'Cheaper by the Dozen'.

[Shadowrun]

I would think the main 2 are costs and time.

Its hard enough raising 2-3 kids (im guessing this is the standard for most people), imagine how hard 5+ kids are (i consider 5+ a lot)

[CrazyEyez]

Once you have one kid, it becomes pretty obvious why having LOTS of kids would suck. Actually it should be obvious even if you don't have any.

Taking care of them is hard.
They whine and cry a LOT.
They cost money.
They are hard to take places.
No time to yourself.
etc

What hard facts do you need? Hrs/day of whining?

[kazana]

I'm the eldest of 6 kids, so I've got some practical experience (although I obv didn't have to pay the bills).

Drawbacks:
- They cost a ton of money. Food isn't actually the real problem, but think clothes, health care, education, hobbies, toys, etc.
- You'll hardly ever have a silent moment for yourself. And this is also true for the kids. I'm not a group person, and I hated that part.
- You'll hardly be able to go away on vacations to remote places.
- You'll spend a LOT of time in hospitals/at doctors, especially while the kids are still young. A wild guesstimate: I'd figure my parents spent around a week in hospital each year, and at least 3 days per month they had to go to one or another doctors appointment with one of us.
- It'll be hard to adjust to a life without the kids once they move on. My youngest brother and two sisters are still living at home, but already my mother is kinda worried about what to do with herself once the last few kids will be moving out.

Advantages:
- Unless you're an ass, you won't be all alone when you're getting older.
- I can't really think of any other. You've got to be a "fan" of big families to enjoy it.

While living in a big family can be fun at times (especially if you can leave the noise when you've had enough), it's just been annoying the vast majority of the time. My parents could only afford having 6 kids because my father has a very solid income.

I don't want any kids, so my perspective is most certainly biased. So take this post with a grain of salt.

[NT!]

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I hope this isn't considered googletarding

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Google search 1

Google search 2

pretty easy to at least get started, then post ideas or responses to what's out there