May 18, 2012 | News | In the Press

Having kids does make us happy

An article published in the newspaper USA Today does away with the myth that childless people are happier than parents. The article is based on research among other carried out by MPIDR-researcher Mikko Myrskylä.  

Reporting on the annual meeting of the Population Association of America (PAA), the article published in USA Today and written by Sharon Jayson is based on two studies presented at the meeting: One of them, published by the University of Arizona, concludes that since the mid-nineties parents surprisingly have been happier than their childless peers. Studies on earlier decades had suggested the opposite. The other study is conducted by MPIDR-researcher Mikko Myrskylä and Rachel Margolis from University of Western Ontario, Canada. Their findings suggest parents today may indeed be happier than non-parents, and though parental happiness levels do drop, they don't dip below the levels they were before having children.

More Information

• Myrskylä, M.; Margolis, R.: Happiness: before and after the kids, MPIDR Working Paper WP-2012-013. (2012)
• Parenthood: Long-term Investment in Happiness, The satisfaction of young parents decreases with their number of children. But older parents are happier than their childless peers. (Press Release, March, 7, 2011)