Abstract
This study contributes to our knowledge on the association between parenthood and psychological well-being by examining whether pre-parenthood lifestyles (leisure and paid work) moderate the transition to parenthood. We expected that people with less active lifestyles would find it easier to adapt to the demands of parenthood. Using eleven waves of the Swiss Household Panel (N = 1332 men and 1272 women; 1999–2008, 2010), fixed effects models are estimated for men and women separately. Results show that—on average—parenthood was not associated with well-being for men, whereas it increased well-being for women. As expected, the well-being premium/cost to parenthood was contingent upon individuals’ lifestyle before the transition to parenthood. For men, parenthood reduced well-being, but only if they frequently participated in leisure before the birth of the child. For women, motherhood had a beneficial effect on well-being but this effect was weaker for women who combined leisure with working long hours before motherhood.
Highlights
The transition to parenthood has gained a lot of attention in recent societal and scholarly debates
Because one would expect that women and their partners adjust their lifestyle during pregnancy and many studies reported a child anticipation effect on well-being (Myrskylaand Margolis 2014), we constructed a dummy variable, indicating that the interview took place within 6 months before the birth of the first child
The current study aimed to increase our understanding of the association between parenthood and well-being by examining the role of lifestyles, and leisure participation in particular
Summary
The transition to parenthood has gained a lot of attention in recent societal and scholarly debates. The literature showed that children bring rewards as well as costs, a number of scholars argue that parenthood is harmful to well-being because children inhibit (couple) leisure and create role overload and conflict (Claxton and Perry Jenkins 2008; Nelson et al 2014; Nomaguchi and Milkie 2003; Treas et al 2011; Umberson et al 2010) Whereas these studies assumed that all individuals who make the transition to parenthood encounter similar problems combining work, leisure, and parenthood, we contend that individuals who seldom participated in leisure before the transition to parenthood do not need to adapt their lifestyles as much as their more active counterparts. Our study adds to the literature on the consequences of role overload and scaling back (e.g., Bianchi and Milkie 2010; Treas et al 2011), by investigating the role of participation in leisure and paid work during the transition to parenthood
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
