For many, parenthood is considered a key component of a fulfilling life. However, with an increasing number of adults remaining childfree, concerns have emerged regarding their long-term well-being.
Laura Buchinger and colleagues investigated how life goals in early adulthood predict midlife well-being among those who become parents and those who do not. This research was published in Psychology & Aging.
Life goals play a crucial role in shaping individuals’ emotions, thoughts, and behaviors across the lifespan. According to lifespan development theories, people adjust their aspirations based on societal expectations and personal circumstances. Prior research suggests that failing to achieve significant life goals, such as parenthood, can negatively affect well-being.
This study sought to determine whether prioritizing the goal of having children in one’s 20s is associated with different well-being trajectories in midlife, particularly for those who never become parents.
Buchinger and colleagues utilized data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), a large, nationally representative dataset that tracks individuals over time. The study followed 562 participants from their early adulthood (ages 18 to 30) into midlife (age 40 for women, age 50 for men). To minimize preexisting differences between individuals who eventually became parents and those who remained childfree, the researchers employed a propensity-score matching technique. This method allowed them to compare two carefully balanced groups—281 parents and 281 nonparents—by controlling for factors such as income, education, employment, relationship status, and baseline well-being levels.
Participants were assessed on their subjective well-being across eight domains: life satisfaction (including overall, health, work, and family life satisfaction), mental health, positive and negative affect, and loneliness. Additionally, they rated the importance of nine life goals in their 20s, particularly focusing on aspirations for parenthood and career success. These early-life priorities were later examined in relation to midlife well-being outcomes. The researchers analyzed participants’ responses across nearly 25 waves of data collection, making it one of the most extensive longitudinal investigations into life goals and parenthood.
A key aspect of the study was its consideration of goal adjustment, particularly whether individuals who did not become parents disengaged from the goal of having children in midlife and how this shift influenced their well-being.
The findings challenge common assumptions about parenthood and well-being. On average, adults with and without children showed remarkably similar midlife well-being trajectories. However, there were some notable differences.
Young adults who did not become parents reported better mental health and lower levels of negative affect compared to those who eventually had children. However, they also reported lower levels of positive affect and higher loneliness, suggesting a more stable but emotionally subdued experience compared to the greater emotional variability associated with parenthood.
Over time, these differences diminished, with both groups showing converging well-being trajectories in midlife.
One of the most striking findings was that individuals who highly prioritized having children in their 20s but did not become parents experienced declines in mental health, cognitive well-being, and affective well-being in midlife. In contrast, those who disengaged from the goal of having children later in life showed increases in life satisfaction, suggesting that adjusting expectations plays a crucial role in long-term well-being.
There were also gender differences, with fathers reporting significantly lower levels of loneliness in midlife compared to both mothers and individuals without children, suggesting that fatherhood may offer unique social benefits.
These results highlight the complexity of life goals and well-being, emphasizing that it is not simply parenthood itself that influences long-term happiness, but rather how individuals set, pursue, and ultimately adapt their goals across the lifespan.
One limitation of this study is that it could not distinguish between individuals who chose to remain childfree and those who wanted children but could not have them. This distinction may have affected well-being outcomes.
The study, “Kids or No Kids? Life Goals in One’s 20s Predict Midlife Trajectories of Well-Being,” was authored by Laura Buchinger, Iris V. Wahring, Nilam Ram, Christiane A. Hoppmann, Jutta Heckhausen, and Denis Gerstorf.