NDLI: Happiness: Before and After the Kids

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Myrskylä, Mikko Margolis, Rachel
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	Understanding how having children influences parents’ subjective well-being (“happiness”) has great potential to explain fertility behavior. 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. Consistent with existing work, we find that happiness increases in the years around the birth of a first child and then decreases to before-child levels. Moreover, happiness increases before birth, suggesting that the trajectories may capture not only the effect of the birth but also the broader process of childbearing, which may include partnership formation and quality. Sociodemographic factors strongly modify this pattern. Those who have children at older ages or who have more education have a particularly positive happiness response to a first birth; and although having the first two children increases happiness, having a third child does not. The results, which are similar in Britain and Germany, suggest that having up to two children increases happiness, and mostly for those who have postponed childbearing. This pattern is consistent with the fertility behavior that emerged during the second demographic transition and provides new insights into low and late fertility.
Starting Page	1843
Ending Page	1866
Page Count	24
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00703370
Journal	Demography
Volume Number	51
Issue Number	5
e-ISSN	15337790
Language	English
Publisher	Springer US
Publisher Date	2014-08-21
Publisher Place	Boston
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Fertility Happiness Life course Parenthood Demography Sociology Population Economics Medicine/Public Health Geography (general)
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Demography

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

The evolution of fertility expectations over the life course

Happiness: Before and after the kids

The Family Life Course and Health: Partnership, Fertility Histories, and Later-Life Physical Health Trajectories in Australia

Family structure and the transition to early parenthood

Explaining fertility transitions

Fertility Intentions and Residential Relocations

The estimation of Unwanted Fertility

The spread of health services and fertility Transition

The increasing risk of poverty across the American life course

Happiness: Before and After the Kids

Similar Documents

The evolution of fertility expectations over the life course

Happiness: Before and after the kids

The Family Life Course and Health: Partnership, Fertility Histories, and Later-Life Physical Health Trajectories in Australia

Family structure and the transition to early parenthood

Explaining fertility transitions

Fertility Intentions and Residential Relocations

The estimation of Unwanted Fertility

The spread of health services and fertility Transition

The increasing risk of poverty across the American life course

Happiness: Before and After the Kids