14 DAY TRIAL // Although we have often been told that children are the greatest joy a man or woman can experience, and that they are also the closest thing to complete happiness, one economist says studies show no direct relation between one’s sense of fulfillment and happiness, and whether one has kids or not. Moreover, if said feeling does appear, it’s because adults deliberately choose to focus on the happy moments, instead of the lifelong chores ahead of them, the expert believes.
In the latest issue of The Psychologist, the magazine of The British Psychological Society, Dr. Nattavudh Powdthavee argues against the common belief that children bring about happiness. This has come to be held as universally true only because, before becoming parents, people tend to focus solely on the happy moments to come (the child’s first smile and word, graduation day, marriage, first job and so on and so forth) instead of the not-so-pleasant daily routine ahead. In the long run, though, Dr. Powdthavee shares, the latter put quite a damper on the former.
“Social scientists have found almost zero association between having children and happiness. In a recent study of British adults, for example, we found that parents and non-parents reported the same levels of life satisfaction.” Dr. Powdthavee maintains. “These boosts in wellbeing tend not to last for very long. Instead, parents spend much of their time attending to the very core processes of childcare – problems at school, cooking and laundry – which are much more frequent. And it is these small but negative experiences that are more likely to impact on our day-to-day levels of happiness and life satisfaction.” he further states.
The 30-year-old doctor, though speaking from numbers and specific studies, does not have any children of his own, so experience is not backing his theory, several media outlets are pointing out. Yet, he and his girlfriend are seriously considering starting a family, even if he is of the opinion that, deep down inside, every parent knows that raising a child is the “toughest and dullest job in the world.”
With all this, there is no other choice than having kids, the economist also believes. “But what if all of us decided one day – for the sake of our own personal happiness – not have children any more? Then chances are that the future will stop at our generation, which is perhaps worse.” he concludes by saying.