Here's the original article --

Happier relationships for couples without children

[www.telegraph.co.uk]

"Open University study finds that when people were asked to rate the quality of their relationship those without children emerged as happier overall

For centuries, having children has been held up by many as the ultimate source of fulfilment and meaning in life.
However, according to one of the biggest studies ever conducted into Britain’s relationships, childless couples have happier marriages.
The project has found that people without children are more satisfied with their relationships and more likely to feel valued by their partner than couples with children.

The study, by the Open University, involved interviews and surveys with more than 5,000 people of all ages, statuses and sexual orientations. When people were asked to rate the quality of their relationship those without children emerged as happier overall.

For both men and women, those who did not have children ranked the quality of their relationship more highly than those who did. They also did significantly more to “maintain” their relationship, such as taking time to go out together or talk, than those with children."

(But this is my favorite result)

"Yet, when asked to rate how happy they were with their lives in general there was a gender divide. Mothers were happier overall than any other group, while childless women were the least happy. By contrast men with children emerged slightly less happy than those without."

***********************

Interesting which aspect of the results of the study were emphasized by whom.

Because these people highlight something that is not being mentioned by others -

Married Couples are Happier Than Those Who Live Together...

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

"Married couples are happier than those who live together, a major State-funded study said yesterday.

It found that even though husbands and wives have greater doubts than unmarried couples about the quality of their relationships, they are more content than cohabitees.

When asked if they are happy with their lives overall, married couples rate themselves much happier than other couples do."

WHY MOTHERS ARE SMILING

Mothers are happier than anybody else, even if they have little regard for their husbands or partners, the research found.

Despite evidence that in many cases their relationship with their partner was on the slide, mothers rated their happiness higher – at 4.1 on a scale of five – than that of fathers or childless men and women.

The report said: ‘We can infer that children could be the primary source of happiness for mothers rather than their partner.’"


****************************************************************

HuffPost folks chose to focus on how childless couples are more happy than couples with children, rather than the fact that married people are more happy than those living together, and the fact that married women with children are the happiest of all.

Childless Couples Are Happier Than Those With Kids, Study Says

[www.huffingtonpost.com]

"The happiest couples are those without children -- at least, that's according to research out of the United Kingdom's Open University.

The study titled "Enduring Love?" found that childless married and unmarried couples reported being more satisfied in life (Is this true?) and feeling more valued by their partners than did pairs with kids."

(I'm a little confused on whether the results actually said that CHILDLESS MARRIED COUPLES WERE MORE SATISFIED IN "LIFE". I thought the original article had said CHILDLESS MARRIED COUPLES WERE MORE SATISFIED IN "THEIR RELATIONSHIP".

Because the original articles says : "For both men and women, those who did not have children ranked the quality of their relationship more highly than those who did. Yet, when asked to rate how happy they were with their lives in general there was a gender divide. Mothers were happier overall than any other group, while childless women were the least happy. By contrast men with children emerged slightly less happy than those without."

Or does "Mothers were happier overall" and "Men with children emerged slightly less happy than those without," average out to "Childless couples are more happy in Their Relationships and in Their Lives"?) Am I missing something?

Here's another article explaining the concept of mothers (In the UK) being more happy in life than fathers or childless couples --

How mothers are the happiest people in Britain - and how a cup of tea is a bigger turn-on than sex -

[www.telegraph.co.uk]

Major study of nation's marital secrets finds mothers are the happiest people in Britain - even if they are less content in their marriage

Mothers are happier with their lives than any other group in society, a major new study of relationships shows.

One of the most detailed studies of Britain’s relationships ever carried out found that even for women in unhappy relationships, being a mother was closely related to being happy with life overall.

As part of the study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, thousands of couples took part in a survey asking them to rate their satisfaction with their relationships, their partners and their lives in general.

The responses uncovered a marked divide between those with children and those without as well as between men and women.

While women with children were among the most likely to rate themselves as being dissatisfied with their marriage or relationship or show signs of growing estrangement from their partner, they topped the list of those voicing overall happiness with life.

Childless women emerged as the least generally happy group in society, even though they also appeared to have the most satisfying personal relationships. Meanwhile fathers emerged as slightly less happy overall than men without children.

It concluded that women are far more likely than men to transfer their focus to their children after becoming a parent – often to the frustration of their husbands and partners.

When asked to name the most important person in their life, well over half of mothers said their children, compared with just over a quarter of fathers.
By contrast two thirds of fathers said their wife or partner was still the most important person for them, compared with just over a third of mothers.

Dr Jacqui Gabb, a senior lecturer in social policy at the OU, who led the study, said: “It does seem that women are getting a greater sense of happiness with their life from their children than fathers.”

When asked to list the things they disliked most about their relationships, fathers were more than twice as likely to list a lack of sexual intimacy as mothers were.

But, contrary to previous research, the study found no evidence of a clear link between frustrated husbands and relationships coming under strain more generally.


***********

Joke -

At ye Pearly gates a large crowd of married men didst wait outside; St Peter camest outte and for a joke didst command themme so,
'forme two lines; on ye right , men who hath been nagged and on ye lefte those that hath notte.
Ye men fell into one long line on ye right ,excepte for a small,solitary,old man who formed his owne line opposite. St Peter wast greatly puzzled and did ask ye man 'wert thou never nagged?' Ye fellow nodded and said 'Oh yes ,of course'
Peter ,exasperated, asked' thenst why doth thee stand theyre?'
The man replied 'Mine wife told me to'

Good stuff. We recently flirted with the idea of having children, but I can see that it's never going to happen. She's perfectly happy with the way things are and more strongly against child-birth than I am. At this point in my life I honestly can't imagine being tied down to kids. I just don't have the personality for it. I'm also pretty sure that my worrying over them would drive me crazy.

Good joke too!

I recently saw about 1/3 of a BBC documentary call "Overpopulated" on YouTube. They showed a classroom in Bangladesh where the kids were being taught that a family with 5 children is miserable and a family with 2 children is happy. They do a lot of government sponsored birth-control. It's kind of interesting. [www.youtube.com]

kidraw

<<Mothers are happier than anybody else, even if they have little regard for their husbands or partners, the research found.


The report said: ‘We can infer that children could be the primary source of happiness for mothers rather than their partner.’" >>

this is a full on joke, right?

mothers are happier even if they have "LITTLE REGARD FOR THEIR HUSBANDS" ?
all i can say is

WOW!!


but whatevs

i gather some people live their lives that way... hey.. whatever floats their boat

Yes, on the one hand they want to tell everybody how horrible it is to have children - yet if you're a mother, there's no love like the love you have for your child, and breast-feeding your baby is heavenly.

What surprises me is that they said - only half of mothers put their children first!

If a mother does not put her children first before everyone in the world, then she is un-natural and lacking the material instinct. And that's why I can't understand how - once a women has a baby in her belly, delivers a baby, breast-feeds her baby, and raises her child, she would believe that it's OK to kill a baby in her belly.

In my opinion.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2014 04:57AM by KidRaw.

HH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Good stuff. We recently flirted with the idea of
> having children, but I can see that it's never
> going to happen. She's perfectly happy with the
> way things are and more strongly against
> child-birth than I am. At this point in my life I
> honestly can't imagine being tied down to kids. I
> just don't have the personality for it. I'm also
> pretty sure that my worrying over them would drive
> me crazy.



Yes, I don't think children are for everyone. If someone has emotional, mental, personality issues (not saying you do - LOL) don't do it because they bring out the worst in you and push your buttons 24/7. It's heaven and hell. But it makes life interesting and provides learning.

I'm a worrier about my kids, too, and will be the rest of my life. I even worry about my non-existent grand-kids - that my girls will be mean to them, or not take care of them properly (maybe they won't breastfeed them, or they'll slap them in daycare as soon as they're born, or let them eat junk growing up). I even worry that I won't be able to take care and worry about my kids and grandkids when I die because I won't be here to do it. And often I don't think my girls should have kids given the way the world is going - especially if we lose Texas

So from the study - which was done in England and I think it would have a different result here - we conclude that men should not have children, but if they do end up married with children, they should have an affair. All women should have children. I guess the inner-city African-Americans have it down pat

I think that my role is to be here for adults and animals. Honestly, I don't even like kids that much. What's weird is that they seem to really like me. I think they respect that I don't give a s--t. You know what I mean? This society is always bending over backwards for children and elevating them to this god-like status. I think they find it refreshing that they get the same rules from me as adults do, i.e. if you're an @$$ you're not getting anything out of me.


KidRaw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> HH Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Good stuff. We recently flirted with the idea
> of
> > having children, but I can see that it's never
> > going to happen. She's perfectly happy with the
> > way things are and more strongly against
> > child-birth than I am. At this point in my life
> I
> > honestly can't imagine being tied down to kids.
> I
> > just don't have the personality for it. I'm
> also
> > pretty sure that my worrying over them would
> drive
> > me crazy.
>
>
>
> Yes, I don't think children are for everyone. If
> someone has emotional, mental, personality issues
> (not saying you do - LOL) don't do it because
> they bring out the worst in you and push your
> buttons 24/7. It's heaven and hell. But it makes
> life interesting and provides learning.
>
> I'm a worrier about my kids, too, and will be the
> rest of my life. I even worry about my
> non-existent grand-kids - that my girls will be
> mean to them, or not take care of them properly
> (maybe they won't breastfeed them, or they'll slap
> them in daycare as soon as they're born, or let
> them eat junk growing up). I even worry that I
> won't be able to take care and worry about my kids
> and grandkids when I die because I won't be here
> to do it. And often I don't think my girls should
> have kids given the way the world is going -
> especially if we lose Texas

There also appears to be a direct correlation between high economic status and low birth-rates and vice-versa. World economic status map: [www.washingtonpost.com]

<<There also appears to be a direct correlation between high economic status and low birth-rates and vice-versa. World economic status map:>>



maybe its something from the past that may still be relevant now when kids were needed to milk the cow, feed the hens and horses, work in the factories, pull out the weeds, plant the carrots, tend to the field and be surrogate parents for the other kids in case something happened to the parents ( the older siblings will look after the younger siblings) and also carry on the business and the family lineage

That tends to be the line of thinking, at least what I've heard. Poor people tend to live in past times.

la_veronique Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> <>
>
>
>
> maybe its something from the past that may still
> be relevant now when kids were needed to milk the
> cow, feed the hens and horses, work in the
> factories, pull out the weeds, plant the carrots,
> tend to the field and be surrogate parents for
> the other kids in case something happened to the
> parents ( the older siblings will look after the
> younger siblings) and also carry on the business
> and the family lineage