The Economic Importance Of Family
My dad often recounts his childhood in Mexico fondly, but as one of uncomfortable congestion; with two parents and nine siblings, his household required much that my grandparents could barely afford. Flash forward to my family in the United States, and he still finds himself uncomfortable, but not because of a crowded house; rather, because of a house spending too much on unnecessary items to account for only three children (two of which, including myself, have already left for college).
[su_pullquote]Two continents, Africa and Europe, separated only by the Mediterranean, face two different crises directly related to family size.[/su_pullquote]His discomfort with family size correlates to the overall effect of family size around the world. Two continents, Africa and Europe, separated only by the Mediterranean, face two different crises directly related to family size. In Africa, malnourishment and poverty dominate the continent’s exploding youth population. Conversely, Europe’s declining family size threatens economic stagnation, a shortage of skilled young workers and an urgent need to care for the elderly. These crises on different ends of the population spectrum both represent significant socioeconomic risk.
According to a UN report in 2017, most African countries average greater than five persons per household, including an average of nine people per household in Senegal. Two reasons account for the continent’s high average family size. First, multiple generations often live in the same place; according to the same report, fourteen percent of all African households include both a child under 14 years old and an elderly person older than 60 years, compared to only 2 percent in Europe and the United States.
The main culprit, however, lies in Africa’s large young population. A report from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in September 2018 estimated that by 2050, Africa’s young population (those aged between 0 and 24 years old), will jump 50 percent. In fact, Africa is currently the world’s only continent with a rising young population. According to Scientific American in 2016, women in Africa give to birth to an average of 4.7 children, usually because of the sparse availability of contraceptives and birth control and a lack of formal education to women across the continent.
Africa already feels the impact of large families; not only do large families stem from innate social issues surrounding the health and voices of women in households and society, but they present financial strain on households and governments. According to the Brookings Center for Universal Education, only about half of sub-Saharan Africa’s 128 million school children “are likely to acquire the basic skills needed for them to live healthy and productive lives,” highlighting the lack of sufficient resources for children. Across the continent, especially countries like Somalia on the barren horn of Africa, famines occur terribly often, with households struggling to supply for their large families. Family size therefore lies at the center of many common problems across the continent.
Just to the north in Europe, the opposite problem exists: with households growing smaller and older, Europe’s population aged and shrunk significantly. In fact, while the 2017 UN report concluded an average family size larger than five people across much of Africa, it found average household size below three people among most European countries. Between 2010 and 2015 UN data found a fertility rate (children born per woman) of just 1.4 across the European Union, data which excludes European countries outside the EU with greater rates of population decline like Ukraine and Russia.
While not necessarily as obvious and immediately present as the impacts of overpopulation, Europe’s underpopulation crisis will worsen as economic growth cannot sustain itself amidst a shrinking, aging population. Rapidly aging populations, an effect of low birthrates, mean smaller workforces and greater reliance on government support and pensions as the large elderly population retires and the smaller youth population cannot fill all their old jobs. John Maynard Keynes, among the founders of modern macroeconomics, connected population decline to economic decline for two reasons; first, because it decreases the workforce and drives up wages, resulting in the movement of jobs elsewhere. Second, smaller families and older people tend to buy less than large families and younger people, so as household size decreases and European populations age, consumption will decrease, leading the way to economic decline.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]Ultimately, the freedom to choose the size of a family rests in individual households, but the impact of family size affects everyone.[/su_pullquote]Ultimately, the freedom to choose the size of a family rests in individual households, but the impact of family size affects everyone. Excessively small family sizes lead to dramatic economic decline; too large, and they exhaust resources and create financial strain on national economies. From natural human phenomena like immigration to government intervention through means such as tax incentives, various solutions exist to stabilize the size of families; in fact, they not only exist as possibilities, but as necessities to not only stabilize households, but whole economies. [su_pullquote align=”right”]Ultimately, the freedom to choose the size of a family rests in individual households, but the impact of family size affects everyone.[/su_pullquote]
Christian Monzon ‘22 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at Christian.monzon@wustl.edu.