One child is all you need to get 90% of the joy, meaning, and interesting experiences out of having children. There are massive diminishing returns to having additional children (for the parents).
I think this needs better substantiation. If I were having children for purely selfish reasons, I’d say that the vicarious joy of raising siblings who get to look out for one another would be a major motivator. I didn’t get to have siblings growing up, but I had friends who did, and the insight gained from having an older brother or sister who can take you under their wing as you grow up was visible in them. This is not to mention the confidence and maturity benefits I saw in people with younger siblings to look up to them. Getting to see and foster a relationship like that is something exceptional.
Plus, the older sibling makes the younger sibling less work. Beyond debates about “parentification”, just having a playmate is something significant. Maybe this is less potent in the age of the iPad, but it’s also much less depressing to see your two kids playing together than it is to see your one kid staring at an endless Tiktok feed.
I think this needs better substantiation. If I were having children for purely selfish reasons, I’d say that the vicarious joy of raising siblings who get to look out for one another would be a major motivator. I didn’t get to have siblings growing up, but I had friends who did, and the insight gained from having an older brother or sister who can take you under their wing as you grow up was visible in them. This is not to mention the confidence and maturity benefits I saw in people with younger siblings to look up to them. Getting to see and foster a relationship like that is something exceptional.
Plus, the older sibling makes the younger sibling less work. Beyond debates about “parentification”, just having a playmate is something significant. Maybe this is less potent in the age of the iPad, but it’s also much less depressing to see your two kids playing together than it is to see your one kid staring at an endless Tiktok feed.