Why Society Looks Down on Large Families (and Why They’re Wrong)

You ever notice how having a big family today gets you labeled as irresponsible or even poor? It’s wild.

Go back just a few decades, and large families were the norm. Growing up in the 90s, most of my classmates had two, three, or even five siblings. Fast forward to 2024, and if you tell people you have four or five kids, they look at you like you’re crazy or worse, like you’re struggling to make ends meet.

Somewhere along the way, society shifted.

Having multiple kids used to be seen as a sign of wealth or strength, passing on a legacy. Now, it’s considered reckless or outdated. The self-centered, anti-family culture we live in measures success by individual gain, not by how well we raise the next generation.

We Need to Flip the Mindset

The truth is, families are the backbone of society, especially for us as Catholic men. Building and raising strong families is how we push back against a culture obsessed with self. Whether you have one kid or seven, the point is to embrace what God gives us and reject the idea that children are a burden.

Large families aren’t a sign of poverty; they’re a sign of abundance. Kids don’t take away from your life, they add to it.

We’ve got to stop letting the world define what success looks like. As Catholic fathers, success is in the legacy we build, and that starts with strong, faith-centered families.