The shopping list included 1,300 biscuits, 240 liters of milk, 100 eggs, 95 rolls of toilet paper and 25 kilograms of potatoes.

This is the amount of groceries and commodities consumed by a Barcelona family. Rosa Pich, Jose Postigo and their 15 children were the 2015 winners of the European Large Family of the Year competition, hosted by the European Large Families Confederation.

The JoongAng Ilbo newspaper interviewed Rosa Pich, the mother of the family and author of "How to be Happy With 1, 2, 3... Children?" (¿Cómo ser feliz con 1, 2, 3... hijos?), on July 2.

Claiming that her book "resonates in Korean society, that is suffering from a historically low birth rate," the newspaper sought to find a "solution" to what it said was Korean society's "major issue" from the Pich-Postigo family's example.

Money is not everything, said Pich in the interview. She said that her family can simply buy a supermarket's cheaper in-house brand and drink tap water instead of mineral water from a bottle. "To be a good parent, you should study. People study hard to get a master's or a Ph.D. but they never make such an effort to be a good parent, to make a wonderful family," the mother of 15 said. "There's no university better than a family."

In terms of expenses for the children's education, she said, "It's different by school, but most children from large families pay nearly zero tuition for college or university in Spain." She added that, "The Korean government needs more active policies to raise its birth rate."

"One of the biggest problems in modern societies is loneliness when old," Pich said. "A family is one source of happiness," she said, and this is the reason why people have children. The mother and author said, "Children learn to be considerate and attentive to others while growing up together." As to the question whether she wants to have as many children as this, her answer was, "Of course."



The newspaper also wrote about the family's fifth child, Juampi Postigo. Currently studying business management at Yonsei University, the young Postigo decided to introduce his mother's book to Korean readers when he saw a public campaign in the subway one day encouraging people to have more babies. "I thought my mother's book could be helpful, as Korea faces many challenges due to its low birth rate," said Postigo to the newspaper.

Pich, who is scheduled to visit Korea this August, said that her book should be read as "a chance to think about families and lives." She said that she hopes that Korea's birth rate would rise soon, as well.

By Chang Iou-chung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: captured from the JoongAng Ilbo
icchang@korea.kr