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Rise of the Onlies – A feature length documentary After making her first documentary Seeking Happily Ever After Michelle Cove understood the blood, sweat, tears that go into taking on such a project. She vowed she was done with films—unless something truly irresistible came up. Then the idea struck: Michelle, mom to an only child by choice, became fascinated by the world of one-child families, the fastest growing family type in the U.S. (She is filming only in the U.S. but plans to seek international distribution.) So once again, Michelle picked up her video camera and started shooting her next feature-length documentary Rise of the Onlies (www.riseoftheonlies.com). In this feature-length film, Michelle will be exploring what stereotypes of only children still exist, why they persist, and which can be debunked; what, if any, generalizations CAN be made about only children; and how others can understand what is quickly becoming the [...]

Are only children happier? Bernice responds to recent articles that say they are.

Households with a single child now outnumber those with two (by more than half a million) and make up 46 per cent of all families. An article in the The Daily Mail stated that recent research concluded only children were happier than sibling children: Why an only child is happier than those who have brothers and sisters. Similarly the Observer article: An only child is a happy child claimed, from the same research: that because children with siblings encounter sibling rivalry and reduced parental attention, and worse still sibling bullying, an only child must be happier simply because they do not have a sibling. More recently “The Week” also published a similar article: Are Only Children Happier? Is this true? First of all, the research as far as I have read, is based on a large scale survey conducted in Britain by the Economic and Social Research Council. It does [...]

The Only Child: Debunking the Myths

By Lauren Sandler It’s a conversation I have most weeks — if not most days. This time, it happens when my 2-year-old daughter and I are buying milk at the supermarket. The cashiers fawn over her pink cheeks and applaud when she twirls for them, and then I endure the usual dialogue. “Your first?”, “Yup.” “Another one coming soon?”. “Nope — it might be just this one.” “You’ll have more. You’ll see.” “At the moment, I’m not planning on it.” “You wouldn’t do that to your child. You’ll see.” I offer no retort, but if I did, I’d start by asking these young minimum-wage earners to consider the following: the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the average child in the U.S. costs his or her parents about $286,050 — before college. Those costs have actually risen during the recession. The milk I’m buying adds up to $50 a month, [...]

Are only children happier?

A new study finds that quarreling siblings increase stress for the children as well as the parents.

Published in ‘The Week’ Is one the loneliest number? A new study says kids without siblings may be better off — thanks to an absence of bullying at home A new study finds that quarreling siblings increase stress for the children as well as the parents. Conventional wisdom holds that children without brothers and sisters are maladjusted and lonely compared to those with siblings. Not so, says a new British study from the University of Essex, which suggests that only children may have a better chance of happiness. Here’s a concise guide: What did the study find? Only children are happier than those with siblings, which may reflect the fact that they endure less bullying — something more than half of kids with siblings in the study reported. “Quarreling siblings increase stress for parents and some [parents] just give up intervening or intervene inconsistently, leaving the field wide open for [...]

Only Child Syndrome?

What is only child syndrome? Bernice thought this article from Durango would be an interesting opener – feel free to add your comments. Left is a German cartoon. The German on the right is saying, “He’s an only child, isn’t he?” To which the one on the left says, “He is now!” by Durango Texas:- The Only Children I’ve known have all pretty much matched the cliches about children who had no siblings. Spoiled, bratty, self-centered, selfish, an odd sense of entitlement, difficult to get along with plus a tendency to say inappropriate things that are rude and ill-mannered. Yet being extremely hyper-sensitive and brittle about even the most remotely critical remark going in their direction. In other words, Only Children give themselves the permission to act, without expecting a consequence, in ways that when others act in a similar way to the Only Child, the Only Child becomes irrationally [...]

An only child is a happy child

An only child is a happy child, says research? The more siblings children have, the unhappier they become, due to bullying and competition by Anushka Asthana, The Observer, Sunday 14 November 2010 In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Natalie Portman once said: “I would never have been an actress if I weren’t an only child, because my parents would never have let me be the star of the family at the expense of another child.” It turns out that when it comes to the advantages of life without brothers and sisters, she was on to something. One of the widest-ranging research projects on family life conducted in Britain has revealed that the fewer siblings children have, the happier they are – and that only children are the most contented. The findings, shared exclusively with the Observer, suggest that “sibling bullying” could be part of the problem, with 31% of [...]

Why an only child is happier than those who have brothers and sisters

By Nick Mcdermott  15th November 2010 The Daily Mail They are often viewed as being awkward, lonely and demanding, but a new study has revealed that only children are happier than those forced to fight for their parents’ attention with their siblings. One of the reasons single-children appear more confident and content is they do not have to deal with ‘sibling bullying’, according to researchers, with almost a third of youngsters saying they are regularly hit or shoved by a brother or sister. Many children with siblings also complain of their belongings being stolen and being called ‘nasty names’ by a brother or sister. Me me me time: Competition for parental attention and irritation over the need to share belongings could be to blame for greater unhappiness amongst those with a brother or sister, new research claims. The figures, which come from one of the widest-ranging studies on family life [...]

Costly legacy for the spoilt Little Emperors

Ice creams and piano lessons, designer sneakers and a flat of their own: these are some of the extras that China’s only children receive from their doting families. The one-child policy has created a generation of Little Emperors. They are at the core of what is known as the 4-2-1 phenomenon of four grandparents, two parents and one child. The children, some now in their early thirties, have been pampered since birth. If a child cries, the response of two parents and four doting grandparents is to rush out and buy something — a hamburger or perhaps a toy embossed with a picture of the latest cartoon craze character, the doe-eyed “Pleasant Goat”. One result is a generation of spoilt brats. But there are far more serious consequences. Abortions of female foetuses mean there are many more boys than girls. Within a decade 40 million young men will be unable [...]

An only child ‘is NOT a more lonely teenager’

By Fiona Macrae,  Daily Mail, 6th August 2010 They are often dismissed as being spoiled, selfish and lonely. But as they reach their teens, only children have just as many friends as other youngsters, a study has found. Research shows that while growing up without brothers and sisters may leave children awkward and tongue-tied initially, by the time they start secondary school they are as socially adept as classmates from bigger families. Urging parents not to worry that the apple of their eye won’t fit in at school, researcher Dr Donna Bobbitt-Zeher said: ‘As family sizes get smaller in industrialised countries, there is concern about what it might mean for society as more children grow up without brothers and sisters.’ ‘I don’t think anyone has to be concerned that if you don’t have siblings you won’t learn the social skills you need to get along with other students in high [...]

← Previous Entries

Articles

A chance to offer your perspective!

Are only children happier? Bernice responds to recent articles that say they are.

The Only Child: Debunking the Myths

Are only children happier?

Only Child Syndrome?

An only child is a happy child

Why an only child is happier than those who have brothers and sisters

Costly legacy for the spoilt Little Emperors

An only child ‘is NOT a more lonely teenager’

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