Parenthood and well-being: Individual, familial, and contextual determinants of parental life satisfaction

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This research project scrutinizes the effect of minor children on the life satisfaction of their parents. Against the background of the value of children theory and similar theoretical perspectives, this project hypotheses that parenthood provides psychological-affective rewards, which enhance life satisfaction, but also imposes psychological, financial and time costs, which negatively affect parental life satisfaction. A primary objective of this project is to test if the costs and rewards of children impact the life satisfaction of parents. Particularly, this project analyzes the extent to which individual, familial and contextual factors affect the costs and rewards of parenthood and thus mediate and moderate the association between parenthood and life satisfaction. The research project is organized in two parts. In the first part, we scrutinize the effects of parenthood on life satisfaction using longitudinal data from Germany (SOEP, Familien in Deutschland, pairfam) and analyze the extent to which parental life satisfaction is moderated by individual and familial factors. Here, we postulate that personality traits, marital status, parental employment pattern, and child related characteristics impact the financial, psychological, and time costs of parenthood and, in turn, affect the life satisfaction of parents. In the second part, we analyze the extent to which macro-structural factors affect parental life satisfaction using cross-country data (European Social Survey). Here, we address the question of whether cultural factors and social policies influence the life satisfaction of parents. The results of this research project will enable us to describe and evaluate the life situation of parents with regard to their subjective well-being. Moreover, the research project provides valuable insight into fertility behavior. Because fertility plans are influenced by expected gains in life satisfaction, the analysis of parental life satisfaction can complement existing knowledge on the determinants of fertility behavior. With regard to low fertility rates in Germany it is of particular interest whether and to what extent family policy arrangements affect parental life satisfaction and thus fertility plans.