New study confirms that many people without children are happier

new-study-confirms-that-many-people-without-children-are-happier

Are children really happy? A new study by fortune researchers in Europe confirms that many people are more unhappy after birth than they were without children.

Love, cuddling, caring – for many parents their children are very lucky. They can not imagine a life without their little ones. But not all parents are like that. How unhappy many parents are after the birth of their children is now shown in a new study by lucky researchers about which ” Welt am Sonntag ” reports. 

Crucial are financial needs of the parents  

For the study, one million parents across Europe were asked about their life satisfaction over a ten-year period and came out: Many people are more unhappy after birth than they were without children. 

According to the two lucky researchers David Blanchflower and Andrew Clark, this is not due to the children themselves – but above all to financial hardships. 

Sure, a kid costs. Often the family needs a bigger apartment, a bigger car, the expenses for the family maintenance increase. Diapers, food, school, hobbies, clothes, everything has to be paid for. At the same time, the income of the family generally decreases because one parent or both work significantly less or not at all.

According to statistics, reports the ” Sat.1 breakfast television “, come for a child up to the age of 18 costs around the 130,000 euros together. A nice bunch. 

“Material conditions are very important for happiness,” said Swiss lucky economist Bruno Frey of “Welt am Sonntag”. Lastly, “many were too focused on the natural environment and took income levels for granted, they thought it would not be a problem to work less and earn only half – a super romantic idea that unfortunately has nothing to do with it Reality, less money hurts luck, “Frey continues.

Whether so many parents actually misjudge the financial challenges of starting a family can not be discussed here. In any case, the fact that the reconciliation of family and work is still often a strenuous effort is still a fact. Parents in constant stress, accounts at the stop – understandable, if because the joy of being a parent lost something.

No wonder, then, that parents who are in financial trouble with children are not quite as happy as they were hoping. 

What we can do against financial hardship

After all, the good thing about this news is that it reminds us all to keep an eye on the family’s financial stability in the family start-up phase . Anyone who can, therefore, can in any case try to counteract this potential calamity by, for example, investing financial security before the pregnancy or even more carefully thinking about how the connection to the profession is maintained and how to look after a child to ensure the compatibility of Occupation and family can be regulated. 

Employers and politicians are also in demand

Accordingly, the results of this study should not only be an important clue for (future) parents, but also for the companies that pay for these parents. Starting a family is an important and natural part of our lives, and every business does well to help its employees reconcile work and family life in a way that is as relaxed and positive as possible , be it fair wages, flexible working hours, or child-sick offices , Kindergartens or the like.

In addition , of course, the policy is still required to make Germany every day a bit more child-friendly . How can we better help parents find good and affordable childcare? Where does it possibly need more money for good education? Does it still need more financial support for sports or club membership for the children? Do parents need to be better informed about the possibilities of financial support for parents? All of these components are important levers for preventing parents from being unhappy with their decision to have children for financial reasons.