UPEC Supports Small Families!
We live in a society that often stigmatizes childfree parents and small families. But small families are great! UPEC has been working to create awareness of this issue for years … so the following represents a crystallization of several campaigns. Please tell us your thoughts about how to improve this section of our webpage.
Is Small Right For You?
Families. What’s right is up to you.
We all agree that deciding family size is a very personal matter. No solution is perfect for everyone. Whether you choose to have two children, one child, or none at all, it’s up to you, the potential parent!
It’s good to plan!
There’s no better time than now to think about your family plan.
Various factors can influence family-size decisions: your financial and mental health, your religion and/or worldview, your spouse’s wants, your desire to reduce your environmental impact, your access to childcare, your career aspirations, as well as pressure from family, friends, and neighbors, etc.
The following is not a comprehensive list, and we don’t believe that one size fits all, but we encourage you to think about the following considerations when planning the size of your family.
- Financial health — It’s certainly possible to raise a variety of family sizes on a variety of incomes. However, when planning to have a family, it’s worth asking yourself and, if applicable, your spouse, the following questions: How much money will I need to create a healthy and happy home? What sort of education do I want to give my children? What are my travel goals? How many diapers can I afford? Do I want pets? What is my healthcare plan? What do I want to spend on food? Do I have a savings plan? Am I able to financially care for the number of children that I want?
- Physical and emotional health — Children demand incredible amounts of time and patience. Some difficult but necessary questions to consider here include: How many children do I have the energy for? What is my patience level and ability to handle chaos?
- Relationship with spouse — Everyone values maintaining a strong, stable relationship with their spouse. If you are having a child with a partner, it’s important that both of you are 100% committed to the decision. Am I on the same page with my spouse about having kids?
- Environmental concerns — The earth is a fragile and warming planet. You might consider the diapers alone that your child — or children — will consume during their lifetime, not to mention all the natural resources they will use and all the stuff they will buy. If you’re American, there’s a decent chance that you are privileged enough to take multiple airline flights a year. Think about an entire new lifetime of those flights.
- Career aspirations — It’s absolutely ok if one parent chooses to stay at home or if both choose to work. Questions here to consider include: Do I want to stay home? What do I want to accomplish in my career? Will having children possibly hurt my career?
- Community support — Do I have the resources from friends, grandparents, etc. that I need to have kids and maintain a high quality of life for myself and my family?