Study: Having Kids Makes You Happier, But Only When They Move Out

When it comes to who is more content, people with children or those without, most research suggests the latter. However, a new study indicates that parents are happier than non-parents later in life, when their kids leave home and turn into sources of social joy rather than stress.

Most studies on parental happiness have focused on those whose children still live at home. These usually show that parents are less happy than their child-free counterparts because they have less free time, rest, and money.

What’s wrong with your parents?

Find out from Dean Burnett at New Scientist Live 2019 in London. Christoph Becker at Heidelberg University in Germany and his team questioned if the situation could be different for parents whose children have moved out. To explore this, they analyzed data from a European survey that asked 55,000 people aged 50 and above about their emotional well-being.

They discovered that, among this older age group, parents with children had higher life satisfaction and fewer depression symptoms compared to those without kids, but only if their children had already moved out.

Returning the favor

This may be because when kids grow up and move out, they offer social enrichment to their parents without the daily pressures of raising them, says Becker. They may also give something in return by offering care and financial support, he adds. “Therefore, children’s role as caregivers, financial assistance, or simply as social contact might surpass the negative aspects of parenthood,” he says.

The situation is similar in the US, says Nicholas Wolfinger at the University of Utah. He recently analyzed 40 years of data from the US General Social Survey and found that empty-nest parents aged 50 to 70 were 5 to 6 percent more likely to report being very happy than those with children still at home.

If parents aren’t willing to wait for their children to move out to boost their happiness, they could relocate to a country with better childcare support, says Wolfinger. A 2016 study of 22 countries found that parents with children at home were actually slightly happier than their child-free peers if they lived in countries like Norway, Portugal, and Sweden, which provide paid parental leave, generous childcare subsidies, and holiday and sick leave.