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Does parenthood increase happiness? Evidence for Poland

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  • Anna Baranowska
  • Anna Matysiak

Abstract

In the recent decade demographers turned their attention to investigating the effects of children on self-rated happiness or life satisfaction. The underlying idea of this strand of research is to find out whether it pays off for individuals to become parents in terms of their subjective well-being, given the costs of having children. Following this line of research, this article studies the impacts of childbearing on individual-level happiness in Poland; a country which experienced a rapid decline in fertility despite the particularly strong attachment of young Poles to family values. To this end, we applied methods for panel data analysis which allowed us to control for endogeneity of subjective well-being and parenthood. Our results reveal a significantly positive effect of the first child on the subjective well-being of mothers. For men, this impact is weaker and most likely temporary since it weakens with the child's increasing age. An important finding is that neither for men nor for women does the positive impact of parenthood rise with an increase in parity. This may explain the persistence of low fertility in this country.

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  • Anna Baranowska & Anna Matysiak, 2011. "Does parenthood increase happiness? Evidence for Poland," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 9(1), pages 307-325.
    • Handle: RePEc:vid:yearbk:v:9:y:2011:i:1:p:307-325
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    Cited by:

    1. Mikucka, Malgorzata, 2015. "How does parenthood affect life satisfaction in Russia?," MPRA Paper 65376, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Magdalena Grabowska & Agata Górny & Małgorzata Kalbarczyk, 2024. "Why the Happiest Moments in Life are Sometimes Short? The Role of Psychological Traits and Socio-Economic Circumstances," Working Papers 2024-06, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    3. Arnstein Aassve & Bruno Arpino & Nicoletta Balbo, 2016. "It Takes Two to Tango: Couples’ Happiness and Childbearing," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(3), pages 339-354, August.
    4. Doris Hanappi & Oliver Lipps, 2019. "Job insecurity and parental well-being: The role of parenthood and family factors," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(31), pages 897-932.
    5. Anna Matysiak & Letizia Mencarini & Daniele Vignoli, 2016. "Work–Family Conflict Moderates the Relationship Between Childbearing and Subjective Well-Being," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(3), pages 355-379, August.
    6. Switek, Maggie, 2013. "Explaining Well-Being over the Life Cycle: A Look at Life Transitions during Young Adulthood," IZA Discussion Papers 7877, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Malgorzata Switek & Richard A. Easterlin, 2018. "Life Transitions and Life Satisfaction During Young Adulthood," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 297-314, January.
    8. Angela Greulich & Sonja Spitzer & Bernhard Hammer, 2022. "The Subjective Cost of Young Children: A European Comparison," Post-Print hal-03677151, HAL.
    9. Angela Greulich & Sonja Spitzer & Bernhard Hammer, 2022. "The Subjective Cost of Young Children: A European Comparison," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03677151, HAL.
    10. Akanksha Choudhary & Ashish Singh, 2018. "Effect of intergenerational educational mobility on health of Indian women," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-16, September.
    11. Mikko Myrskylä & Rachel Margolis, 2014. "Happiness: Before and After the Kids," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1843-1866, October.
    12. Giulia M. Dotti Sani, 2022. "The Intrinsic Value of Childcare: Positive Returns of Childcare Time on Parents’ Well-Being and Life Satisfaction in Italy," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 1901-1921, June.
    13. Sonja Spitzer & Angela Greulich & Bernhard Hammer, 2018. "The Subjective Cost of Young Children: A European Comparison," VID Working Papers 1812, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    14. Michal Brzezinski, 2019. "Diagnosing Unhappiness Dynamics: Evidence from Poland and Russia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(7), pages 2291-2327, October.
    15. Mikko Myrskylä & Rachel Margolis, 2014. "Happiness - before and after the Kids," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 642, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    16. Arnstein Aassve & Anna Barbuscia & Letizia Mencarini, 2014. "Expected happiness from childbearing and its realization," Working Papers 062, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    17. Zheng Mu & Yu Xie, 2016. "'Motherhood penalty' and 'fatherhood premium'? Fertility effects on parents in China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(47), pages 1373-1410.
    18. Sonja Spitzer & Angela Greulich & Bernhard Hammer, 2022. "The Subjective Cost of Young Children: A European Comparison," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 1165-1189, October.
    19. Mikko Myrskylä & Rachel Margolis, 2012. "Happiness: before and after the kids," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2012-013, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    20. Márta K. Radó, 2020. "Tracking the Effects of Parenthood on Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Hungary," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2069-2094, August.
    21. Małgorzata Mikucka & Ester Rizzi, 2020. "The Parenthood and Happiness Link: Testing Predictions from Five Theories," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(2), pages 337-361, April.
    22. Le Moglie, Marco & Mencarini, Letizia & Rapallini, Chiara, 2015. "Is it just a matter of personality? On the role of subjective well-being in childbearing behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 453-475.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income

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