How important are siblings?

In his new book, Sticking Up for Siblings, Sky News presenter Colin Brazier has championed the benefits of bigger families and the positive effects of having siblings.

 

In Ireland, the average number of children per family has been falling, dropping from 2.0 children in 1991 to 1.4 in 2011. These figures can be attributed to a number of factors such as financial pressures, career demands or the age at which people start their families.

 

“Having a second child, once the ‘traditional’ choice for married parents, now presents a stark choice to parents: a life of relatively unflustered parenting…or – even with just two children – a protracted period of anarchy in the home and years of umpiring the squabbles of siblings,” Brazier writes.

 

But he feels that there are benefits to expanding a family: "Siblings help to round your personality. And it changes the world because birth order affects the types of people there are in the population. Where will diplomats come from, if there aren't youngest children who can hone their negotiating skills? Where will we be without the creativity that's a typical trait of middle children?"

 

What do you think? Is there really a ‘better’ option when it comes to family size? Are there pros and cons to both? Is a loving, supportive environment more important than the number of siblings a child has?