New Research Discovers That Dads Tend To Be Happier Parents Than Moms
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When a baby arrives in a couple’s life, the whole perspective of their life changes. From now on, their entire world revolves around their baby and makes them happy to no end. We often talk about the mother-child bond and how embracing motherhood with all frills attached makes a woman extremely happy. But what about the dads? Does fatherhood change them at all as a parent? Of course, we notice certain tell-tale signs of change like spending more time at home, willingness to take on diaper duties and grocery shopping, etc. Yet, it might not seem enough as compared to a mother. However, now science has added its two cents of wisdom to the whole parenting exercise. And guess what? It says that fathers are probably happier as parents than moms! Let’s find out how.
In This Article
What The Research Was About
The psychologists at the University of California Riverside along with their colleagues analyzed data from three separate studies that looked into the well-being of people with children compared to those without children. Although the first two studies confirmed the relative well-being of people with children, it did not look into the happiness of moms and dads specifically. The researchers revisited this data of 18,000 people across the studies. They looked into parameters like well-being, happiness, depressive symptoms, stress, and psychological satisfaction to measure and compare. In the first two studies, the results showed that across all parameters, there was a greater amount of well-being among fathers than compared to mothers. Fathers with children reported less depressive symptoms, increased positive emotions, low daily hassles, and greater psychological satisfaction when compared to new mothers. In fact, fathers with children did well on these parameters than those with no children!
In the third study, the researchers measured the level of satisfaction and happiness of parents while engaging in childcare activities and parent-child interaction as compared to the other daily chores. The study found that there was a significant impact of gender in the association between happiness and childcare. In short, it showed that fathers seemed to be happier while taking care of their children than the mothers (1)!
What The Research Suggests
On one hand, the results of the research might surprise us. However, on the other hand, it actually sends out an important message: of gender equality. One of the possible reasons why dads fared better was because they often tend to play with their children while taking care of them. Whereas women get relegated to chores that might not seem fun like feeding a fussy baby, bathing, or even diaper changing. This means that as much as dads like to pitch in, it is the mothers who eventually end up with the lion’s share of childcare duties. And, having spent enough time looking after them, mothers are usually not left with any more energy to play with their babies. Compare this to the situation dads usually land in: by the time they are home, the baby would have been bathed, cleansed, fed, and even done with his/her sleep routine. Which means the father gets to play with the baby in a happy mood while the mother is simply happy to have a few minutes for herself again!
In this day and age, where gender equality is fast catching up at workplaces, the responsibilities of a mother and father at home are yet to reach that level. With more and more mothers stepping out to work, it becomes all the more difficult for them to balance their motherhood duties. While fathers do pitch in, a lot more effort is needed before both moms and dads can enjoy their time with their child in an equally happy manner. Until that happens, keep doing what you think is best for your baby. You are a great mom and nothing can change that. And, certainly not the results of a study! You go, girl!
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