Desire to have children?

Poll Reveals Some Parents Regret It - Money Is Only One Reason

Created: 06/22/2022, 08:00

By: Natalie Hull Drawbar

In reality, life with children is so different for some parents that they regret their decision to have children.

A study shows three causes.

Rostock – Scientists around the world are dealing with the topic of regretful and unhappy parents.

Probably the best-known study on this is that of an Israeli sociologist Orna Donath, entitled "Regretting motherhood".

The study was published in 2015 and triggered a major debate in Germany, especially on social networks.

What is it that makes parents regret having children?

Desire to have children?

Poll Reveals Some Parents Regret It - Money Is Only One Reason

According to a survey, more than 20 percent of mothers and fathers in Germany regret their desire to have children and the fact that they have had children.

(Iconic image) © AntonioGuillem/Imago

The representative YouGov study "Regretting Parenthood: Who would make a different decision today" showed that 20 percent of mothers and fathers in Germany would not decide to have children again.

What became clear in the survey: These parents also love their children - but they do not love their path in life after having children.

And feel, for example, less resilience to critical phases of their children, such as outbursts of anger.

In the study, three main reasons were given by parents:

• Restrictions on Personal Development:

  
  

  More than half (52 percent) of all parents said that having children restricted them in their lives.

  In the case of regretful parents, it was even 74 percent.

• Careers and finances:

  
  

  44 percent of the mothers surveyed and 20 percent of the fathers who took part believed that their careers would have been better without children.

  According to the results, regrets about parenthood were also more common among people with a lower income, i.e. less than 1,500 euros per household.

  Financial resources and support would play a role in determining the desire to have children and being satisfied.

• Lack of care options:

  
  

  A lack of care options also played a major role.

  Basically, about two-thirds (64 percent) of all parents surveyed criticized this – even 74 percent of parents who would subsequently no longer decide to have children.

This survey also suggests that a major reason for regretting parenthood, specifically, is the belief that as a parent you cannot live the life you want.

Lack of luck with the offspring: When parents regret their desire to have children

Not only scientists from Dartmouth University received interesting insights as part of a study on the subject of happiness among parents with one million respondents.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) were also able to identify an interesting trend.

They published the results of their global study on the topic of wanting to have children and feeling happy together with the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (USA) in the specialist journal “Population and Development Review”: Young parents become less satisfied with each additional child.

However, as parents grow older, their happiness in life exceeds that of childless people.

You can find even more exciting health topics in the free 24vita newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.

The evaluations showed that the more children a young couple has, the more dissatisfied they become.

The adjustment and strain caused by stress would be perceived as greater.

From the age of 40, however, it would be the other way around: more children make parents feel happier in life.

This applies regardless of gender, income and relationship status.

The researchers surveyed over 200,000 women and men from 86 countries.

Thanks to today's medicine, a child over the age of 40 is no longer a peculiarity or difficulty.

"Children can be a long-term investment in happiness," study author Mikko Myrskylä said in an MPIDR press release.

There is a global trend in which parents under 30 years of age experience a decreasing level of happiness with each subsequent child, while parents over 30 years of age experience a higher level of happiness.

This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication.

In no way does it replace a visit to the doctor.

Unfortunately, our editors are not allowed to answer individual questions about clinical pictures.