Do Rich Parents Enjoy Children Less?

Abstract

We investigate the role of individual labor income as a moderator of parental subjective well-being trajectories before and after first childbirth for couples living in Germany. Analyzing German Socio-economic Panel Survey data, we found that income matters negatively for parental subjective well-being after childbirth, though with important differences by education and gender. In particular, among better educated parents, the richer see the arrival of a child more negatively. Parental income is measured by the average of individual labor income within three years before the birth, the individual labor income at three years from the event, and the equivalent household income. In this way, we provide evidence that results are robust to potential endogeneity between income and childbirth, and for alternative measures of income. Results are discussed in terms of preferences among different groups of parents, and work and family balance.