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PaperclipPerfector  20hr ago (text post)   2647 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026

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Nine kids is historically almost unheard of outside of high infant mortality areas.

My father was one of ten, he had seven, my siblings have from three to eight kids. Neighbor in high school had 23, seventeen with the first wife, who subsequently expired as one does. Nearly everyone in their social circle has 6-12 kids. It's not nearly unheard of, you just gotta live in the sticks with the plain folk.

It is indeed practically unheard of at the country level.

My grandmother had seven; my grandfather had eight (the seven he had with my grandma and one illegitimate daughter that was raised alongside her half-siblings). I'm a millennial. These sorts of numbers were common a few generations ago.

From "Dégénération" by Mes Aïeux:

Your great-great-grandmother,
she had fourteen children;
your great-grandmother,
had about just as many;
and then your grandmother,
she has three, it was enough;
and your mother didn't want any,
you were an accident.

Or, as the English version puts it:

well now Your great great grandmum She had fourteen kids to raise
and then Your great grandmum nearly followed in her ways
Then your grandmother had three and decided to prevent
And your mom had just the one and she was an accident

I wasn't an accident, but my sister was.

"The average height of a woman is 5'4""

"I'm 5'6" though"

Seven, much less fourteen children, surviving to adulthood on a regular basis has never been the case. Here is a time series for "effective" fertility rate. For the UK and the US it only goes back to the early 20th century, but for Sweden it goes back to 1751. This has never exceeded 3.5 children in any of these countries.

Obviously there are families that buck the trend, but that doesn't take away from what's normal and what isn't.

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