There is a lot of research on this topic. I know later studies contradict earlier studies, but I'm not sure who to believe here. Wondering if anyone can help.
In case it isn't clear, the basic question is the effect of having children on happiness.
Most studies don't show children to have a significant effect on the parents' happiness, either + or -.
We need to take into account that children have effects on different types of happiness. On the one hand parents get to enjoy all those wonderful evenings reading to their children, playing with them, seeing them grow, etc. On the other hand they can exhaust us in many different ways (even as little kids, forget about teenagers). And then there's the "side effects" such as having to earn a higher
There is a lot of research on this topic. I know later studies contradict earlier studies, but I'm not sure who to believe here. Wondering if anyone can help.
In case it isn't clear, the basic question is the effect of having children on happiness.