Family Planning—
Having the Number
of Children You Want
283
CHAPTER
20
BOTH THESE FAMILIES LIVE IN POOR COMMUNITIES:
This family lives where wealth
is distributed unfairly.
This family lives where
resources are distributed fairly.
Some mothers and fathers want a lot of children—especially in countries where
poor people are denied a fair share of land, resources, and social benefits. This is
because children help with work and provide care for their parents in old age. In
such areas, having just a few children may be a privilege only wealthier people can
afford.
The situation is different in poor countries where resources and benefits are fairly
distributed. Where employment, housing, and health care are guaranteed and where
women have equal opportunities for education and jobs, people usually choose to
have smaller families. This is in part because they do not need to depend on their
children for economic security.
In any society, parents have a right to make their own decision about how many
children to have, and when to have them.
Different parents have different reasons for wanting to limit the size of their
family. Some young parents may decide to delay having any children until they
have worked and saved enough so that they can afford to care for them well. Some
parents may decide that a small number of children is enough, and they never want
more. Others may want to space their children several years apart, so that both
the children and their mother will be healthier. Some parents feel they are too old to
have more children. In some places, men and women know that if they have a lot of
children, when the children grow up there may not be enough land for all of them to
grow the food their families need.