Happiness: Before and after the kids.

Autor/inn/en	Myrskylä, Mikko; Margolis, Rachel
Institution	Max-Planck-Institut für Demografische Forschung
Titel	Happiness: Before and after the kids. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Glücklich sein: vor und nach den Kindern.
Quelle	Rostock (2012), 43 S. PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Reihe	MPIDR working paper. 2012-013
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Soziale Situation; Generatives Verhalten; Zufriedenheit; Kinderlosigkeit; Kinderzahl; Alter; Deutschland; Eltern; Generatives Verhalten; Glück; Großbritannien; Kinderzahl; Soziale Situation; Auswirkung; Internationaler Vergleich; Qualifikation; Zufriedenheit; Kinderlosigkeit; Eltern; Fruchtbarkeit; Glück; Sozioökonomischer Faktor; Qualifikation; Internationaler Vergleich; Alter; Auswirkung; Geschlechtsspezifik; Deutschland; Großbritannien
Abstract	Understanding how having children influences the parents' subjective well-being ('happiness') has great potential to explain fertility behavior. Most prior research on this topic is limited in that it uses cross-sectional data or has not considered modifying factors. We study parental happiness trajectories before and after the birth of a child using large British and German longitudinal data sets. We account for unobserved parental characteristics using fixed effects models and study how sociodemographic factors modify the parental happiness trajectories. Overall, we find that happiness increases in the years around the birth of the first child, then decreases to before-child levels. Sociodemographic factors strongly modify this pattern. Those who have children at older ages and those with higher socioeconomic resources have more positive and lasting happiness response to a first birth than younger or less educated parents. We also find that although the first two children increase happiness, the third does not. The results are similar in Britain and Germany and suggest that up to two, children increase happiness, and mostly among those who postpone childbearing. This pattern, which is consistent with the behavior emerging during the second demographic transition, provides new insights into the factors behind low and late fertility. (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku).
Erfasst von	Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nürnberg
Update	2015/4