Hi, Deb! Actually, TS4 Sims are pretty good at taking care of their needs -- unless they're using the computer. Then they'll keep playing a game forever. They won't starve, though. I think you have 24 hours from when they go into the red on hunger.
Welcome to the forum, Deb!
They also ignore most of their needs on the gaming rig
. My main Sim family is an 8 Sim household. They each have a gaming rig, and if they are on it for too long, I redirect them to take care of their needs.
In general, I agree that TS4 Sims are good at maintaining their needs.
However, I've never played any other Sims games --- except for Sim Tower (my husband found that in 2015) and I started to play it. Then, in September 2015, he bought me TS4. I didn't realize that before TS4, you had to intervene more to ensure that your Sims kept their needs up.