Abstract
Being a parent plays an important role in people’s life trajectory and identity. Though the general cultural perception is that having children is a source of subjective well-being, there is evidence that, at least in some societies, the subjective well-being of those who are parents is worse, in some aspects, than that of those who are not. This gap has been the object of interest and controversy. The aim of this study was to compare Chilean adults with and without children in a broad set of well-being indicators, controlling for other sociodemographic variables. A public national probabilistic database was used. The results show that, in terms of positive and negative affect, those who are not parents achieve greater well-being than those who have children. Other results also pointed in that direction. The implications of the social context and gender, which are aspects that pose a burden for the exercise of parenthood in Chile, are discussed.
Highlights
IntroductionThe conditions and ways in which parenthood is exercised have driven research on the relationship between subjective well-being and being a parent [3,4,5]
The intense transformations of social and family life in contemporary societies [1,2]and the conditions and ways in which parenthood is exercised have driven research on the relationship between subjective well-being and being a parent [3,4,5]
Statistically significant differences are observed between mothers and non-mothers, which favor the latter in all indicators; on the contrary, between fathers and non-fathers, statistically significant differences are only observed in three indicators, which favor non-fathers
Summary
The conditions and ways in which parenthood is exercised have driven research on the relationship between subjective well-being and being a parent [3,4,5]. These transformations are visible in the marked decrease in birth rates in most countries. In various dimensions (stress, depression, anxiety, life satisfaction, and the daily frequency of positive and negative emotions), a gap in subjective well-being that favors those who are not parents has been observed [17,18,19]. The 2016 World Happiness Report devoted a chapter to this topic and
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