Kids are growing up with fewer cousins than ever. Is this reshaping the experience of childhood?
Canadian children have fewer cousins than previous generations — a growing trend as the decreasing fertility rate causes extended families to narrow over time, sociologists and demographers say.
![Kids are growing up with fewer cousins than ever. Is this reshaping the experience of childhood?](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7103351.1707499638!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/noelene-lancastle-cousins.jpg)
![Noelene Lancastle, back-centre, camping with some of her cousins in approximately 1983 in B.C. She grew up with about 13 cousins and five second-cousins. Five children in parkas eat and drink on a rocky beach with mountains in the background. The photo is older, taken in the 1980s.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7103351.1707499638!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/noelene-lancastle-cousins.jpg)
Canadian children have fewer cousins than previous generations — a growing trend as the decreasing fertility rate causes extended families to narrow over time, sociologists and demographers say.