Families of Two: the childfree a decade later

Studies tell us that those with kids are less happy than those without. They tell us that mothers are less happy than fathers, that single parents are less happy still, that babies and toddlers are the hardest, and that each successive child produces diminishing returns.

Still others say parents are more depressed than nonparents whether they’re single or married, whether they have one child or more. So why do parents say they are happy when the data say otherwise? New York Times Magazine’s All Joy No Fun: Why Parents Hate Parenting  by Jennifer Senior discusses why.

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And the last area from Pew Research’s latest study on women and childlessness: Comparing childless women with those who have borne children.  The study looked at differences in marriage, education, and race. “There are dramatic differences by marital status .. (more…)

On to Part IV of  new data on the numbers of childless women put out by the Pew Research Center, (based mainly on combined 2006-2008 data  from the June fertility supplement of the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey). Next: marital status.  

Pew breaks women into the “ever married” category to include those who are married now or at some point in the past, and those who have never been married. There’s some interesting results for each… (more…)