One could also point out the many negatives of monogamous living, but I didn't think that was what we were getting at. Let's be honest, no relationship is going to be easy or perfect, regardless of how many people are involved.
Not necessarily. When one woman has multiple male spouses, she's not going to be able to have any more babies than she could have with one spouse.
more debt (i.e. more food to buy, more electricity, more water, etc.)
Only with more dependents. If all the able-bodied adults in the house have jobs, the debt is about the same. Or less, depending on how many children you have.
the bigger the chores become
But there's more people doing them, so again, it evens out.
and more people to bother you when you want privacy
True, but if you really wanted privacy, having children at all is a bad idea to begin with, multiple partners or no.
more compromise on what movies/TV shows to watch
Seriously? First off, what household doesn't have more than one television these days? And even if you don't, that's hardly a reason to stay monogamous. I mean, if that's the worst you have to deal with, you've got it made. If a person's that incapable of compromise, maybe they should just stay single. :areyoucra
Heh. That would depend largely on the people involved in the relationship, wouldn't you say? My homelife is very quiet and "boring," while some of my monogamous friends could headline on Jerry Springer, if you know what I mean.
Also what happens when someone no longer wants to be part of the family?
The same thing that happens to monogamous couples.
What happens to the children during divorce, who shares the children if multiple divorces from the same family occur?
That would have to be worked out by the people within the family, just like in any divorce. It's not always as complicated as you'd think; just like regular divorces are not always as simple and straightforward as you'd think.
What happens if someone new comes into the family, especially in a situation where they feel like more of a replacement, what happens if they don't show as much of an interest in the children as the others?
How is this any different than a new stepmom or dad that does the exact same thing? These problems are not at all unique or exclusive to poly people.
What about the fact that most homes were never designed for polygamous families, how do you handle the shortage in space you might run into (depending on the size of the family)?
What about monogamous families that take in both grandparents? Or both sets of grandparents? What about monogamous families that have lots of kids? You get the biggest house you can afford. The difference between a poly family and the first two examples, however, is that with more working adults, it's easier to afford that bigger house.