Yes and no. I know poor people with large families here in suburban Boring. They have a lot of kids in a few rooms (like I do), and sometimes not just kids but grandparents, aunts and uncles, in-laws who just got here from Mexico or El Salvador. Everyone who is old enough to work, works, and contributes to the household. Grandmothers or sister-in-law provide childcare and cook for everyone, even if they’re not all living in the same house.
When my oldest son got his first job as a lifeguard, a friend from Guatemala said, “Great! Now he can help the family!” *jaw drop* We did not need Bill the Son’s minimum-wage earnings to help feed the household, although we did, eventually, charge him rent as an incentive to move out.
“Are you really going to pay me $500 a month to share a bedroom with Tom and a bathroom with eight other people? Come ON!” No, he wasn’t. He got a roommate, an apartment, and a cat.
I wasn’t referring to today’s individual families & their particular preferences.
I was referring to historical time frames— society in general was agrarian — and large families in general were considered a blessing, from Biblical times until the 1800s.
Industrialization caused mass migration off the farm & into cities. People in cities —in general— felt economically pressured to have fewer children.