May 12--New Gallup poll statistics reveal that Americans are holding strong to their belief that two children represents the ideal family size.
The research group has asked Americans since 1936, "What do you think is the ideal number of children for a family to have?" The answer hovered around four kids (3.6, to be exact) until the 1970s, when the ideal shifted to 2.5 children, where it has remained ever since.
The difference now? More families are hewing to that ideal.
In 1976, according to a new Pew Research Center report, 36 percent of women in their early 40s had given birth to four or more children, while 22 percent had given birth to just two children. By 2014, only 12 percent of women in their early 40s had four or more children, while 35 percent had given birth to just two kids.
"What's behind the dramatic shift?" Pew asks. "Likely a number of factors, beginning with the wide availability of the birth control pill in the 1960s; the growth of women's participation in the workforce, which surged in the 1970s; and, of course, the increasing cost of raising kids."
The cost, in fact, is the No. 1 reason families give for not having more children, according to Gallup, with 63 percent of Americans selecting "not enough money/cost of raising child" when researchers asked why they think couples don't have more children.
(This is apparently not a concern for Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and his wife, Kristin Cavallari, who announced Monday they're expecting their third child.)
For those of us not pulling in professional sports/fashion designer/actress dollars, the cost is a significant concern.
Raising one child from birth to 18 now costs $245,340, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, up from $198,560 in 1960 -- and that's adjusted for inflation.
Just 3 percent of Americans cited "children are hard work/stressful" as a reason to not have more. Which tells me we don't shy away from challenges, but we'd rather not go into debt raising them.
hstevens@tribpub.com
