To Have or Have Not: Parent Status and the Subjective Well-being of Older Men and Women

Data from a multi-stage quota sample of adults aged 55 and over were used to examine the effect of parent status on three measures of subjective well-being--avowed happiness, depression, and satisfaction with life. Unlike other studies, we employed four categories of parent status: close parents, distant parents, those who chose not to have children, and those who are childless by circumstance. We found significant differences in subjective well-being between close parents and distant parents, and between close parents and the childless by circumstance but not the childless by choice. We also found important differences, by gender, in which factors predict subjective well-being.