8. The Impact of Large Families on Demographic Evolution

The demographic evolution is one of the greatest challenges of our century. Undoubtedly, the dramatic decline of the birth rate is an important structural problem that countries must face all over the globe. This problem finds its cause in the decreased number of children born by women of childbearing age, which leads to the impossibility of ensuring the generation replacement index. The specialized literature indicates that the improvement of the level of education among women is perhaps the main cause of the decrease in fertility (Kravdal, Demography 39:233–250, 2002; Lloyd, Education. Encyclopedia of population. Macmillan, 278–283, 2003; Lutz & Skirbekk, World population and human capital in the twenty-first century. Oxford University Press, 14–38, 2014; May & Rotenberg, Studies in Family Planning 51:193–204, 2020). This evolution in women’s lives led to an increase in the cost of opportunity for women when they put on hold their careers in favor of birth. Unemployment, degradation of living standards, stress, and uncertainty (Ghetau, Sociologie Românească 2:5–41, 2004) are also important factors that influence the level of fertility in a country.

This paper aims to analyze the main demographic indicators for Romania and the impact of large families on demographic evolution. In order to understand the typology of the family with three or more children, we conducted a quantitative analysis (questionnaire) which showed some essential aspects about large families: the social structure of the family, living conditions, occupation, and education. According to Eurostat, in Romania, there were approximately 226,400 large families in 2021, but at the same time, 70% of households had no children. Moreover, for the period 2015–2022, families with three or more children replaced the lack of children in childless households (3.5%).

This chapter contributes to the improvement of specialized literature by analyzing an important segment of the population, namely, families with three or more children.