• Media type: Report; E-Book
  • Title: Happy People Have Children: Choice and Self-Selection into Parenthood
  • Contributor: Cetre, Sophie [Author]; Clark, Andrew E. [Author]; Senik, Claudia [Author]
  • Published: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2016
  • Language: English
  • Keywords: selection ; fertility ; income ; J13 ; children ; D1 ; happiness
  • Origination:
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  • Description: There is mixed evidence in the existing literature on whether children are associated with greater subjective well-being, with the correlation depending on which countries and populations are considered. We here provide a systematic analysis of this question based on three different datasets: two cross-national and one national panel. We show that the association between children and subjective well-being is positive only in developed countries, and for those who become parents after the age of 30 and who have higher income. We also provide evidence of a positive selection into parenthood, whereby happier individuals are more likely to have children.
  • Access State: Open Access