George Orwell. The British (№ 248871)

To a certain extent it is true that modern English having a small family because of love of children. They think it's fair to make a child into this world if you do not have absolute confidence that I will be able to provide it at the level not worse than their own. The last fifty years having a big family meant that the children would be worse than the others clothed and fed, deprived of attention and before others are forced to go to work. This applies to all but the very rich or the unemployed. Undoubtedly, the reduction in the number of children is partly due to the growing appeal of competing with them cars and radios, but the real reason is a purely English combination of snobbery and altruism. The instinct of Catalonia will revive, probably, when a relatively large families are the norm, but the first steps in this direction should be economic measures. Ineffective family benefits will not help, especially in the current acute housing crisis. The situation of the people has improved thanks to the arrival of children, as in a peasant community, instead of deteriorating financial as we do.