Newsweek: Having Kids Does Not Make You Happy

Survey says:

...In Daniel Gilbert's 2006 book "Stumbling on Happiness," the Harvard professor of psychology looks at several studies and concludes that marital satisfaction decreases dramatically after the birth of the first child—and increases only when the last child has left home. He also ascertains that parents are happier grocery shopping and even sleeping than spending time with their kids. Other data cited by 2008's "Gross National Happiness" author, Arthur C. Brooks, finds that parents are about 7 percentage points less likely to report being happy than the childless.

Considering that at no point does the article actually settle on a definition of "happiness," bouncing from not getting your house egged on Halloween to marital satisfaction, emotional well-being, and bliss.

At one point, the article contradicts itself. On the one hand it quotes surveys that prove that childless couples are happier than parents. Yet in reaction to a Newsweek poll that 50% of Americans report that adding children to their family increases happiness, the article demurs, "But which parent is willing to admit that the greatest gift life has to offer has in fact made his or her life less enjoyable?"

Not only does this retort claim that the responses of parents are unreliable--rendering all the surveys mentioned in the article unreliable, more importantly it raises the obvious question: which childless couples are willing to admit that lacking the greatest gift life has to offer has in fact made his or her life less enjoyable.

The article does address differences between raising families over the years and the increased expense and how that has changed perceptions.

In the end, the article concludes:

As for those of us with kids, well, the news isn't all bad. Parents still report feeling a greater sense of purpose and meaning in their lives than those who've never had kids.

Well, if we are not happy at least we have that...

Technorati Tag: Families.