A new study conducted by a team of researchers at Heidelberg University in Germany has found that offspring make parents happy, but not during their childhood. As per the research report, parents often tend to enjoy happiness in their lives when their offspring become adults and move out.
During the study, researchers analyzed the happiness quotient of 55,000 people and found that emotional wellbeing is more among people who are aged 50 or above who have independent self-sufficient children. It should be also noted that this group of happy parents have more financial stability than children and this is one of the main reason why they maintain happiness and emotional wellbeing in the latter stages of their lives.
The study report titled 'Marriage, parenthood and social network: Subjective well-being and mental health in old age', published in the journal PLOS ONE suggested that children's role as caregivers or simply as social contact is capable of outweighing the negative aspects of parenthood.
A few months ago, another study conducted by experts at the University of Surrey had found that young people, especially below the age of 30 are earning less than their parents. It should be noted that this trend began in 2007 and until then young people below the age of 30 used to earn more than their parent peers.
Scientists in that study report also added that the financial crash that happened in 2007 is one of the main reason behind the trigger of this trend, and shockingly, this continues even in 2019.
"Research and political debate have focused on relative social mobility – that is, whether those with higher incomes are likely to have children who are also relatively well-off. Our research highlights that this is no longer the case and clearly demonstrates that the economic gap between old and young is likely to become an increasingly charged political issue," said Jo Blanden, co-author of this study in a statement.
