Can Egyptian families be persuaded that less is more?
Egypt's recent family planning policies are educating couples on the number of children to have, debunking the idea that having many children means a source of income now and later in life.
For many years, Egyptians believed that large families were a source of pride and security for old age. New family planning policies are trying to reverse that faith in numbers.
Rayes Abdel Nazeer moved to Cairo from the southern province of Minya in the mid-1980s seeking a better life. He has since worked as a doorman in the affluent residential suburb of Hay El Maadi, 7 miles south of Cairo, living with his wife and children in a small, dark basement in the building where he works. His monthly earnings of 1,300 Egyptian pounds ($73) — just above the minimum wage in Egypt — are barely enough to look after his family.
"In my village in the south of Egypt, large families are a source of pride and children are seen as blessings from God," 59-year-old Abdel Nazeer told Al-Monitor.
While he admits it is a daily struggle to put food on the table for his family, he is nevertheless skeptical about the Egyptian government's new family planning campaign that advocates for smaller families using the slogan "Two Are Enough."
