Parents often refer to their children as their “pride and joy

.” But research tells a different story: Having kids doesn’t necessarily make people happier.

Most parents feel that their children are incredibly important sources of life satisfaction, says Jennifer Glass, professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin and a demographer who studies the relationship between parenthood and well-being.

Research shows that there is a “happiness bump” that parents experience right after a baby is born. But that tends to dissipate over the course of a year, Glass says.

After that point in time, the levels of happiness of parents and non-parents gradually diverge, with non-parents generally growing happier over time.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/16/does-having-children-make-you-happier-science-of-parenthood-explained.html