As countries have developed there has been a trend towards smaller family sizes. Why does this happen? How does this affect society?

1Ever since the genesis of industrialisation, the world has gone through many paradigm shifts. This is also evident in the fact that average family size is getting smaller. It is argued that rising costs of living and career-oriented thinking are the primary reasons for this trend. These causes and their effects will be analysed in this 2essay. To beginessay To begin, ever since the industrial revolution, rising 3costscost of living in cities has compelled people to 4have smaller families for economic reasonsshrink the size of their families due to economic reasons. This has resulted in families spending more time with their offspring, since the number of children, among 5whomwhich parents have to divide their time, has reduced dramatically. For example, a recent study conducted by Save the Children, a not for profit organisation, found that children of the modern era 6performdo much better than their earlier counterparts in schools and colleges. This would perhaps not be possible if parents had to spend a large amount of their time 7meetingnurturing the needs of 8more childrena higher number of children. Hence, 9the effect of smaller families on children's academic performancethe impact a small family size has on child’s academics is clear. 10In addition, the advent of technology has removed the need for human intervention in many jobs, as a consequence, now more people have to compete for fewer jobs. Such circumstances have made people more career oriented than they used to be, therefore, 11starting and expanding familiesstarting and expansion of families has moved to the bottom of the pecking order of many people’s priorities. The most evident effect of this on society is an ageing population in many of the western countries in the world. For instance, in Germany, the population growth rate 12is negativeis in negative, which could perhaps mean that the current generation of Germany will not be able to replace their 13older generation numericallydying forefathers in numbers. 14Therefore, the devastating impactTherefore the devastating impact of small families is also evident. 15As is clear, improved academic performances of children on the one hand and the probable extinction of genes of some, on the other hand, are the two of most prominent impacts of decreasing family sizes. It is thus hoped that people will 16think carefullymuse upon greatly before choosing their career paths and starting families.