Childlessness, parenthood and subjective wellbeing: The relevance of conceptualizing parenthood and childlessness as a continuum

The objective of the paper is to show the theoretical and practical relevance of conceptualizing and operationalizing parenthood and childlessness as a continuum – instead of a dichotomy - when evaluating the consequences of kinless-ness in later life. It is suggested that information on the number of children, structural and associational intergenerational solidarity can be utilized to operationalize the continuum. Subjective wellbeing is utilized as outcome of interest. Data from waves 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe are used. The sample includes 183,545 respondents from 21 countries. Linear regression models with clustered standard errors are used. Childless older individuals report lower levels of life satisfaction than parents. However, the largest difference is observed between those with one and two children. Using a measure of associational intergenerational solidarity to weight the degree of parenthood it is shown that parents who have infrequent contact with children report significantly lower levels of life satisfaction than childless individuals. Kinless-ness is not only a demographic but also a social condition. When studying the consequences of ageing alone it is essential to consider not only the presence and “quantity” of kin, but also its “quality”.