In the collective imagination, the nuclear family is symbolised by the presence of two children. But in reality, single-child households are becoming increasingly common throughout the world, particularly in western societies.
In many countries, single-child households now outnumber those with two or more children. This family model is now integrated and accepted as a natural evolution of demographic patterns.
In Europe, this family structure has become the majority: nearly one family in two has just one child. In comparison, around 40% of households have two children, and 10% have three or more.
France is in the lower range of the European Union, with around 40% of families counting one child.
In the United States, the proportion is lower than in Europe: 22% of families had a single child in 2022, according to the National Council on Family Relations, reported by Business Insider. However, this figure has doubled since 1978.
Conversely, large families have become rare. The one-child family is the fastest-growing configuration in the US, while in Canada, one-child families were most common, according to census data for 2021.
This trend can also be observed in East Asia, where the birth rate is plummeting. According to projections by the French Institute for Demographic Studies, there would have been fewer than one birth per woman in South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong this year.
In South Korea, which has the lowest birth rate in the world (0.72 babies per woman), many households are choosing to have just one child. In 2020, a quarter of married women in their 40s had one child, according to a study published last year in the journal Preventive Medicine Reports.
Life choices
The boom in one-and-done families across several continents can be explained by a combination of factors. Having just one child enables people to satisfy their desire for parenthood while maintaining a balance between their personal and professional lives.
This work-life balance is easier to maintain with one child. Women are increasingly committed to their careers; between a later entry into working life – due in particular to longer studies – and this prioritisation of work, they often choose to postpone motherhood.
This trend is reflected in the statistics: the average age of women giving birth for the first time is rising steadily. In France, women have their first child at an average age of 31, compared to 29.4 twenty years ago. And as women have children later in life, they logically have less time to have more than one.
There’s also a financial dimension: raising a child is becoming increasingly expensive. Over the past 50 years, the cost of raising a child has risen much faster than the average wage. In 2021, a quarter of American parents under 40 said they didn’t want more children for financial reasons, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Indeed, periods of economic crisis and inflation do not reassure parents when it comes to expanding their families. In the US, the average cost of raising a child from birth to age 18 is estimated to be US$310,000, according to the Brookings Institution. This figure does not include college tuition, which can double the cost.
According to data from the Yuwa Population Research Institute, the cost of raising a child is highest in South Korea. Between birth and the age of 18, Korean parents spend 7.79 times the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.
This is followed by China (6.9 times per capita GDP), Germany (3.64), and France (2.24).