New Publication: The Role of Parenthood for Life Satisfaction of Older Women and Men in Europe
The article by Gerrit Bauer, Martina Brandt and Thorsten Kneip examines the role of parenthood for the life satisfaction of older women and men in Europe. Previous research has widely addressed the gap in well-being between parents and childless individuals. While cross-sectional studies have regularly reported lower levels of well-being for parents, recent longitudinal studies suggest a short-term positive effect with a back-to-baseline adaptation. Whether, why, and how parenthood may affect well-being in older age is, however, still largely unclear. In the paper, a holistic view of well-being developments across the process of aging is combined with a transition-centered, gender sensitive approach to analyze the effects of health decline on the self-reported life satisfaction of parents and childless individuals.