What is the ideal number of children that makes parents happy?

By Joe Pinsker

Brian Kaplan is an economist, and a father who has reflected greatly on the joys and stresses of being a parent. When I asked him if there's an ideal parent, from the parents' welfare point of view, he gave a completely emotional answer: ” I'm tempted to start with the answer of economic activities “well, there's an optimum number according to your preferences”.

When I insisted, he replied: ” If you have a typical level of joy from the rich children, and you're ready to adapt to your parents, then I say the right answer is 4”

Four, it could happen to be the number of children Kaplan has. But there is a rational reason why this number can be applied more generally. His interpretation of parenting research, which he describes in his book published in 2011 “The selfish reason to make more children” is that many of the parents' spending on children -- in the hope of helping them succeed by charging them with extra-school programs, while in private schools dealt little with their future income or happiness.

So many parents make parenting terrible, so Kaplan suggests that they have to review their approach to child rearing, and then, if they can afford it, let them consider having more children, because children can be fun and fulfilling.

A number of studies have tried to identify an ideal number of children, which maximizes parents ' happiness.

A study in the mid - 2000 ' s showed that a second or a third child did not make parents happier. “If you want to maximize your subjective well-being, you have to stop at a child”- said study author for “Psicology Today”. Meanwhile, a recent study in Europe revealed that 2 children are magic; having more children does not bring more joy to parents.

In the United States, nearly half of adults consider 2 the ideal number of children, according to Gallup surveys, with 3 children preferred by 26 %s. Two children is the most popular option in all of Europe. The idea of two children is a great distance from half a century ago.

In 1957, only 20 %s of Americans said that the ideal family means 2 or fewer children, while 71 %s said they wanted 3 or more. In this change, a major role has been played by the economy. Steven Minc, a historian at the University of Texas, and author of the book “An American childhood story”, says the ideal during the period “Baby Boom” was 4-5 children.

This number increased, as did the cost of raising children. And the more women entered the labour market, the more they began to have an increasing sense of frustration, for reducing the number of birth”- he says. But child - rearing costs are not just financial.

"As a parent who appreciates his mental and physical health, I would stop him at 2 children because this dictates the new style of intensive parenting” - says Robert Crosnow, sociologist at the University of Texas. He added: ” However, I am satisfied that my parents did not think so, as I am the third of the 3 family children”.

At the same time, with the having of just one child, parents are unable to have at least one son and a girl an agreement they are inclined to prefer during the half century. (The couples are usually more likely to stop having children because they have one of each gender.)

Perhaps this is another reason why number 2 is so popular, although over the long term, one researcher found that having both children or boys does not affect the happiness of mothers who wanted to have at least one of each. But many people want more or less than two children.

But in general what is optimial depends on age, stage of life, and makeup of family, things that are subject to change. Kaplan believes that when people think of their children, they tend to focus on their first years of parenting stress and sleep deprivation.

But they underestimate what family life will be like when their children are 25 or 50 years old. Parents may decide that a certain number of children will maximize their happiness, but what about the happiness of children themselves?

Is there an optimum number of brothers and sisters? Generally, judging by the children's own conversations, relationships between brothers and sisters tend to be positive. In fact, there is evidence that having brothers and sisters improves the social skills of young children and that good relations between older brothers are related to better health.

However, there is a less good result: The more brothers and sisters have children, the less likely they are to be properly educated. Researchers have been debating for decades whether the “resource range” The idea that when it comes to sharing their resources among more children, every child has less. However, this theory does not rely heavily on facts, especially after it has been observed that children with a brother tend to be more educated than single children.

Taken with cuts from “The Atlantic” World.al