In 2020, American households were recorded with an average of 1.93 offspring. Having more than one child is unusual for our age. Today, about 38 percent of mothers in the age group of 40 to 44 have at least three kids or more.
Having More Than Two Kids Risk Parents to Cognitive Deterioration As They Get Older
Having three or more children in a family bears many advantages and negative impacts on the household. As the number of kids under the same roof increases, there is a chance that the house will be functional and filled with joy and fun.
Contrary to the emotional benefits, there are the other ends of the spectrum of giving birth to many kids. For parents, things might become less stable, there would be less 'me time,' and the cost of living would be much greater as the children grow old.
In a new study, scientists show a greater risk of having two or more children in the family. The authors said that the effects specifically target the neurological health of parents and might become prevalent later in their life.
The research was led by scholars from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Université Paris-Dauphine - PSL, and Robert Butler Columbia Aging Center. According to their findings, parents with three or more kids are likely to experience cognitive decline as they age compared to parents with two.
Most parents found brain health issues due to the same cause in Northern Europe. The experts said that this region rarely improves social resources despite having an increased fertility rate across its population.
The study was the first to examine the relationship between late-life cognition and high fertility, reports SciTechDaily. Prior to this paper, previous studies were only anchored to common factors such as career and education when analyzing predictors of late-life cognition.
Columbia Mailman School's family, health, and population specialist Vegard Skirbekk, who also co-authored the study, explained that the studies on the factors that contribute to late-life cognition are essential to understanding the medical side needs of people at individual and societal levels.
The findings are essential, especially to the current situation in Europe, where the number of family sizes declined and most people aged rapidly, Skirbekk continued.
Benefits and Disadvantages of Bearing Many Children to Parents
Université Paris-Dauphine - PSL economics expert and co-author Eric Bonsang added that late-life cognitive health is what drives individuals to maintain their independence, productivity, and social life as they get old. Understanding the subject is also important for society to get ahold of solutions to extend work-life and decrease the expense of affected groups for health care and related needs, Bonsang said.
Cognitive deterioration due to having more than two children in the family is caused by a number of aspects such as a reduction in family income, an increase in financial costs, sleep deprivation, and the stress brought by the likelihood of the family dropping below the poverty line.
On the other hand, other factors positively affect parents after they bear children. Having companions while aging benefits parents in their social life and prevents them from being isolated as they age. Exercise and interactions from social activities often save them from developing cognitive decline and dementia-related illnesses.
Further studies are required to detail every possible attribute that leads parents with many children to incur cognitive deterioration. The study was published in Demography, titled "Does Childbearing Affect Cognitive Health in Later Life? Evidence From an Instrumental Variable Approach ."
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