Older parents are happier with more children; young parents, with fewer
Monday, March 7, 2011 - 11:30
in Psychology & Sociology
The satisfaction of young parents decreases with their number of children, while older parents are happier than their childless peers are. The more children young parents have, the unhappier they are. From age 40 on, however, it is the other way round. Then, more children generally mean more happiness. This is true independent of sex, income, or partnership status, as researchers show in a study based on a survey of over 200,000 women and men in 86 countries conducted from 1981 to 2005.