{"id":2302,"date":"2014-05-12T10:48:19","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T15:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthecouch\/?p=2302"},"modified":"2014-05-12T10:48:19","modified_gmt":"2014-05-12T15:48:19","slug":"good-news-for-families-parents-are-happier-than-non-parents-after-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthecouch\/2014\/05\/good-news-for-families-parents-are-happier-than-non-parents-after-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Good News for Families: Parents are Happier than Non-Parents After All."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

FROM THE ATLANIC.<\/a> \u00a0Since the 1980s, economists and psychologists have been aware of a \u201cparental happiness gap.\u201d Basically, the running theory has been that\u00a0p<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

But\u00a0Chris Herbst<\/a>\u00a0of Arizona State University and\u00a0John Ifcher<\/a>\u00a0of Santa Clara University noticed some weaknesses in earlier studies on the phenomenon. Why did the studies always treat the happiness gap as a constant? Also, why was the word\u00a0parents\u00a0always defined as people whose egg and sperm had met and created a child? This excluded a segment of society who\u00a0chose\u00a0to have children: adoptive parents, step-parents, relatives who take in children\u2014non-biological parents who willingly (and many times, happily) take in children to raise because they want to and, perhaps, find joy in having kids around.<\/em>arents are a less happy bunch than their non-parenting peers<\/a>. This makes some sense: After all,parents have a lot on their plates<\/a>\u2014changing diapers, getting their kids into the right schools, keeping their vaccinations up to date\u2014and rarely have time to just relax and enjoy themselves.<\/em><\/p>\n

So Herbst and Ifcher turned to two surveys (the\u00a0General Social Survey<\/a>\u00a0and theDDB Worldwide Communications Life Style Survey<\/a>) to re-examine parental happiness<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"by looking at both\u00a0<\/em>happiness trends and expanding the definition of \u201cparents\u201d to include any adult who has a non-adult living under the same roof.<\/em><\/p>\n

Their results, appearing in a study titled\u00a0\u201cThe Increasing Happiness of Parents,\u201d<\/a>challenge previous research on parental happiness: While parents appear t<\/em><\/p>\n

o remain just as happy as they did back in the 1980s, the happiness of non-parents has fallen. This means that, today, parents are happier relative to non-parents\u2014a shift from previous evidence.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ifcher explained the results this way: \u201cWhat we believe is going on is that there is a general negative trend in happiness among adults\u2014[but] that negative trend is not happening for parents.\u201d Adults seem to be getting grumpier as a whole, but parents are bucking that general trend.<\/em><\/p>\n

The findings stay \u201csturdy\u201d even in the face of common tough childrearing times, such as the terrible twos and adolescent angst, surprising Herbst and Ifcher.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cParents with young kids of any age are becoming happier than non-parents,\u201d Herbst told me. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter how old the child is in the household: Parents with kids in any of these age groups are becoming happier.\u201d \u00a0READ MORE<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like more information on being a happier, more effective parent, check out,\u00a0Parenting with Grace: \u00a0The Catholic Parents\u2019 Guide to Raising (almost) Perfect Kids!<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FROM THE ATLANIC. \u00a0Since the 1980s, economists and psychologists have been aware of a \u201cparental happiness gap.\u201d Basically, the running theory has been that\u00a0p But\u00a0Chris Herbst\u00a0of Arizona State University and\u00a0John Ifcher\u00a0of Santa Clara University noticed some weaknesses in earlier studies on the phenomenon. Why did the studies always treat the happiness gap as a constant? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1437,"featured_media":2303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[318,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-2","category-popcak-2"],"yoast_head":"\nGood News for Families: Parents are Happier than Non-Parents After All.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"FROM THE ATLANIC. \u00a0Since the 1980s, economists and psychologists have been aware of a "parental happiness gap." 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