We will specify the conditions that determine whether children increase or decrease the well-being of their parents and caretakers. Although adults generally value their children and the parental role, research often finds that adults with children in the household feel more distressed than those without. We hypothesize that the impact of children on adult well-being depends on household circumstances. Children decrease well-being by increasing demands and burdens and precipitating conflict between partners over those demands and burdens. Children create economic strain by increasing the household's demand for income while decreasing the household's ability to provide it. Children create child care strain by requiring supervision and domestic service. Children create interpersonal strain by interfering with intimacy, eroding satisfaction with the partnership, and creating in some a sense of injustice over inequitable child care arrangements. We expect that children have a larger impact on the strains experienced by women than by man. Putting the hypotheses in positive terms, children increase adult well-being when and if (a) the household readily meets the economic demands and the children do not undermine the woman's employment, or the parents share equally or fairly any sacrifices of personal earnings, opportunities and the like; (b) the parent readily manages child care because it is affordable and available or because a partner takes responsibility for a substantial share; and (c) the parent maintains a supportive, satisfying, and fair parental partnership. We expect that these contingencies are (d) stronger for women, but (e) relevant for men too. We will test the hypotheses using two national U.S. data sets: The 1990 survey of Work, Family and Well-Being and the 1988-1989 National Survey of Households and Families and its 6-year follow-up. The studies contain identical indexes of malaise and depressed mood, and many comparable assessments of household and family circumstances.
| Mirowsky, John (2005) Age at first birth, health, and mortality. J Health Soc Behav 46:32-50 |
| Ross, Catherine E; Mirowsky, John (2002) Family relationships, social support and subjective life expectancy. J Health Soc Behav 43:469-89 |
| Mirowsky, John; Ross, Catherine E (2002) Depression, parenthood, and age at first birth. Soc Sci Med 54:1281-98 |
