Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/141639 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 9880
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
There is mixed evidence in the existing literature on whether children are associated with greater subjective well-being, with the correlation depending on which countries and populations are considered. We here provide a systematic analysis of this question based on three different datasets: two cross-national and one national panel. We show that the association between children and subjective well-being is positive only in developed countries, and for those who become parents after the age of 30 and who have higher income. We also provide evidence of a positive selection into parenthood, whereby happier individuals are more likely to have children.
Subjects: 
happiness
fertility
children
income
selection
JEL: 
D1
J13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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