American scientists discovered that parenting makes people less happy. Besides, the difference in the level of happiness among parents and non-parents is the largest in the United States. Altogether data from over 20 industrialized countries has been analysed in the research, Science Daily reports.
Let’s see what prevents American parents from being happy after they had kids.
Why parenting makes people less happy
Scientists from the University of Texas at Austin, Baylor University, and Wake Forest university studied the data from several countries including the U.S. in order to find out if parenting makes people more or less happy.
It turned out that American parents become less happy after the birth of children. Why is this happening?
Experts suggest that the reason is the drawbacks of the country’s labor system. People find it hard to combine work and parental responsibilities. Matthew Andersson, an expert in sociology, believes that people need a paid sick leave, maternity leave, and flexible working hours.
In countries where such policies are regulated by the government, people become a little happier when they have a child.
The scientists also discovered other interesting facts:
- People are happier when they have the opportunity to combine work and parental duties.
- Maternity payouts turned out to be less effective.
The researchers took into account the data on GDP per capita in the country and birth rates. They didn’t want the economic situation in the country to interfere with the objectivity of the report.
At the same time, Americans can not be called unhappy. They rate their happiness level from 8 to 10 (out of 10). So, it’s a great result compared with French, who rate their levels of satisfaction from 5 to 7.
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