There has been debate over which group of people are happier: parents, or people who do not have children. In general, this argument relies on individual people’s perceptions based on their own experiences. Research has confirmed that the “parenting happiness gap” exists. The correlating factors that make parents less happy than non-parents has a lot to do with where the parents live.
The “parenting happiness gap” is a phrase that sums up a reality that may surprise some people. No matter what country you live in, or what stage of life you may be at, people who do not have children are happier than people who are parents.
You might assume that the parents are less happy because they aren’t getting as much sleep as their childless peers are able to get. Or, you could assume that the stress involved with being a parent is what makes parents less happy than non-parents. You wouldn’t necessarily be wrong about those assumptions. But, it turns out that where you live has a bigger influence on the “parenting happiness gap” than anything else.
Research done by the Council on Contemporary Families looked at the difference between parents and non-parents in 22 countries. They found parents in Norway and Hungary are happier than non-parents in those countries. They also found that the United States has the largest happiness shortfall among parents compared to non-parents. The U.S. shortfall of happiness was larger than the gap found in Great Britain and Australia.
To understand more about why parents in some countries were happier than others, the researchers took a look at several specific government policies that they thought would make a difference in the lives of employed parents.
Those policies included: the duration and generosity of paid parenting leave, the number of annual paid sick and vacation days guaranteed by law, the cost of child care for the average two-year-old as a percent of median wages, and the extent of work schedule flexibility offered to parents of dependent children.
It is clear that “parenting happiness gap” is a result of how well, or how poorly, the government policies of a country supports the needs of parents. Countries that had better family policy “packages” had no happiness gap between parents and non-parents.
The United States government can do things that would reduce the “parenting happiness gap”. They could require paid maternity leave (and paid parenting leave), institute a nationwide affordable day-care program (and a prekindergarten program), and ensure that all workers got a reasonable amount of paid sick days and paid vacation days. Until and unless those positive changes are put in place – there will always be a “parenting happiness gap” in the United States.
Related articles on Families.com: